BRIDPORT hope goalscoring postman Ryan Dovell can deliver them an early Christmas present on Saturday as they try to arrest a run of six league games without a win.

Work commitments deprived the Bees of their star striker last Saturday as they went down to a narrow defeat at Melksham despite having the best chances on the day.

But Dovell is back this weekend when Bridport host Barnstaple Town, the side rooted to the bottom of the Toolstation Western Premier Division, eight points adrift of the Bees and Wells City.

Assistant-manager Mike Savage put the reverse in Wiltshire down to a combination of poor finishing, good goalkeeping and bad luck but having Dovell available again will undoubtedly give the team a much-needed lift.

“Ryan is a postman so around Christmas time he has to work every other weekend,” explained Savage.

“But he will be back tomorrow which is a big boost for us.

“It's important we keep trying and don't get too despondent but we're in a dogfight at the bottom of the table and need a few good results.

“We changed to a 4-4-2 formation against Melksham and we have to be attack-minded if we want to improve our position.

“I believe we should stick with it tomorrow, the boys enjoyed it and we played really well and with the personnel we've got it suits us.”

The Bees beat Barnstaple 2-1 in the reverse fixture on the opening day of the season while their opponents were thrashed 8-0 by Bishop Sutton last Saturday.

Bees (from): S Filkins, Hayter, C Clarke, J Filkins, S Buckler, M Buckler, Evans, Wise, Luke, Legg, Condliffe, Ritchie, Dovell, B Clarke, Hailu.