TWO cup finals crammed into the space of three days is far from ideal for Sholing.

But manager Dave Diaper has pledged to field his strongest possible side in tomorrow’s Sydenhams Wessex League Cup showdown with Baffins Milton Rovers - and worry about Wednesday’s Southampton Senior Cup final later.

“It’s quite onerous having two finals in such a short space of time. Most of our reserves are cup-tied for the Southampton Senior Cup, so if we get injuries in the first game we could have problems,” he said.

“It’s all a bit odd, but we’re going to go very strong to the first final.

“We’ve got to treat each one as an opportunity of silverware and we’ll be just as competitive tomorrow as we would have been if we didn’t have another final on Wednesday.”

Defender Luke Dempsey and midfielder Micky Hubbard are ruled out of tomorrow's (Bank Holiday Monday, 3pm) Sydenhams showpiece at AFC Portchester’s Blanchard Wells Stadium.

Both are cup-tied, but will be eligible for Wednesday’s SSC final against holders Team Solent at St Mary’s (7.30pm).

The Hampshire FA Senior Cup final between AFC Bournemouth’s Under-21s and Basingstoke Town is sandwiched between the two at St Mary’s on Tuesday (7.45pm) and Diaper quipped: “It makes you wonder what would have happened if we’d been in that one as well. We’d have needed a sub for me!”

While the Boatmen are firm favourites to beat Baffins having finished third in the Premier Division, the Portsmouth underdogs are no mugs.

Louis Bell’s troops will grace the Premier ranks next season, having clinched promotion as Sydenhams One runners-up behind Hamble Club.

Between them, the teams boast the Wessex’s two most prolific marksmen.

Sholing’s Dan Mason tops the Premier goal charts with 43, while Baffins’ Ryan Pennery has netted 48 times.

“You’ve got to respect Baffins for where they are and what they’ve achieved,” said Diaper.

“I’m not keen on the ‘favourites’ tag, but we’ve got to live with it and put on a performance that reflects that.

"I've spoken to (Hamble Club managers) Ben Kneller and Scott Marchant about Baffins and we're expecting them to be very competitive.

"It's good to be in two cup finals and to have finished third in the league," added the Boatmen's boss.

"Whatever happens, we've had a great season. It's been much more successful than I anticipated at the start."

Sholing hope to have frontman Lee Wort back in action after time out resting a hamstring problem.

Admission at AFC Portchester is £7 adults and £4 concessions, including programme.