DORCHESTER Town boss Callum Brooks called for the Magpies to be more “ruthless” ahead of their BetVictor Southern Premier South battle with Taunton Town at the Clayson Stadium tonight (7.45pm).

Dorchester endured a poor start to the campaign with a solitary win from five games but have now won successive matches against

Evesham in the FA Cup and Hendon in the league.

Brooks has long iterated his belief in the quality of the Magpies’ squad and urged his players to match his ruthlessness – the Dorchester manager having admitted he dispensed with midfielders Sam Lanahan and Dom Panesar-Dower last week.

The former Hamworthy manager also stated his desire to break Dorchester’s trend of losing more than winning.

In a stirring message to the Magpies, Brooks told Echosport: “I want to see a real determination and desire. I really want to get out of the habit of being a club which loses more than it wins.

“And, when they do win, it comes as a nice surprise then they rest on their laurels. I want to become a side where winning becomes a habit and we win a lot more than we lose.

“Before we start talking about the way we move the ball in and around their box, and the combinations, beating men and all the nice things, at any level you need to be prepared to out-run the opposition.

“It’s too tough a league, you’ve got to win the fight first. I’ll be looking to compete, to out-run Taunton and pick up second balls.

“I know if we do that, we’ve then got an opportunity. We can’t play the pretty football that we all want to watch if we haven’t got the ball.”

He added: “I’ve shown a bit of ruthlessness with regards to picking the side and moving players on. I’ve been very ruthless in my work of saying ‘it’s not what I want, I expect better’.

“I will change things if I feel it’s going to be of benefit. I want that ruthless streak to start going into the lads. We’re not here to make up the numbers.

“We want to be winning games and want to be putting on powerful performances. As good as we were against (Hendon) it would be nice to show that determination and slick attacking football in front of our home supporters.”

Callum Rose (neck) and Luke Winsper (foot) are Dorchester’s only concerns for the clash, while keeper Nick Hutchings could return after missing the 3-1 win at Hendon for the birth of his daughter.

Brooks said: “Cal will be fine, it’s going away. It’s muscular, so he can play through with painkillers.

“Long-term we’d like to patch it up but we haven’t got that luxury at the moment.

“Problem is (Winsper) didn’t train Thursday and he’s done nothing (Saturday) so we’ll have to check he’s fit and he’ll have to put some work in to get back into the matchday group.”