BRIDPORT boss Adam Fricker believes his players will need to acclimatise to squad rotation ahead of the Bees’ Toolstation Western League Premier Division tussle with Cribbs at St Mary’s Field on Saturday (3pm).

Fricker’s men face a minimum of 16 games in all competitions in less than two months, with the Bridport manager admitting he will need to plan ahead given the magnitude of the remaining workload.

He told the Bridport News: “I think we just need to get used to moving and rotating the squad around as much as we can with the pure volume of games.

“I will be stressing to the lads that if they are aware that they are going to miss games we need to be made aware.

“It does make a difference with what we’re going to do with the game. We’re going to plan for three games if we play three times a week.”

Asked what the challenges of managing the weight of games were, Fricker said the pressures were mainly on the players’ shoulders.

“It’s just going to be managing it and assessing it and seeing how the lads come out of games.

“It doesn’t phase me or affect me – we just go out and put the teams out.

“It’s the lads really, and trying to spot the fatigue as they want to play in every game,” he said.

Earlier this season, Bridport were involved in a thrilling 3-3 draw with the Bristol-based side, but Fricker is hoping to avoid a repeat of how that match panned out.

He said: “We were 2-0 up at half-time and collapsed in the second half to go 3-2 down and managed to salvage a point in the end.

“It wasn’t lost points but when we were in control at half-time we were bitterly disappointed.”

Mark Salter will again be missing for the Bees alongside defender Leigh Bailey – both through unavailability.