DORCHESTER Town boss Callum Brooks called for his Magpies’ squad to “fight for the badge” as Merthyr Town visit the Clayson Stadium in the BetVictor Southern Premier South tonight (7.45pm).

Brooks’ men were overturned 6-0 by Weston-super-Mare on Saturday in what was the Dorchester manager’s heaviest defeat in the 24 games he has overseen since his arrival in March.

Brooks was irked by what he perceived to be a lack of work rate at Weston before telling Echosport a battling side would be picked for Merthyr – a side the Magpies beat 7-1 in his second game in charge.

He said: “I’ll be looking to put the most competitive side out of the group that’s going to do the basics well and give as much fight for the badge as possible.

“If we turn up and do that, it’s something to look forward to. I’m not going to say that (Weston) was a freak result or a one-off because we were 3-0 down after 20 minutes against Hayes & Yeading.

“The only thing I want to see now is people taking responsibility. If people want to roll their sleeves up, there won’t be a problem.

“If they don’t, it’s been 11 games now and I’ll have to change things my end while I’ve got time to do that.”

Brooks added he would be working quickly to ensure there is no repeat of the Weston scoreline.

He said: “Any team at this level will always provide different challenges, be very competitive and pose different threats.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve got to digest what’s happened and we’ll focus on Merthyr. I don’t want to hide behind ‘these are the plans for the future’ or ‘this is the reason why’.

“I need to very quickly look at myself closely and look at the group closely because I’m not going to have too many Saturday afternoons of watching that.”

Charlie Davis is out after suffering another hamstring injury – separate to the one he sustained in August.

Tom Blair returns from a one-game ban, but Tom Bath is a doubt after coming off with injury at Weston. Kyle Egan (knee) is a long-term absentee.