MARK Childs is continuing the long road back from injury on loan at Evo-Stik South Premier basement boys Gosport Borough.

The young Eastleigh goalkeeper was out on loan at Borough this time last year when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his home debut.

He didn’t return to action until playing for the Spitfires in their 2-0 Hampshire FA Senior Cup defeat to AFC Bournemouth last month.

Childs, who joins fellow Spitfires loanees Ollie Dennett and Harvey Read at Gosport, went straight into the starting line-up against Stratford Town at Privett Park on Saturday with Pat O’Flaherty dropping to the bench.

He was beaten just once, by Lee Thomas’s strike four minutes into the second half, but the 1-0 defeat was enough to stretch Gosport’s depressing winless run to 14 games.

Dunstable Town, the side Borough must overtake to avoid the drop, picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at Dorchester Town, meaning Alex Pike's men are now four points adrift with two games in hand.

Intriguingly the bottom two go head-to-head in Dunstable on Saturday (March 3). Before that, Borough visit 20th-placed Bishop’s Stortford on Tuesday to kick of a pivotal week of fixtures.