TWO former teammates will occupy opposing dugouts at Winchester City tomorrow evening when Blackfield & Langley visit in the Hampshire FA Senior Cup (7.45pm) semi-finals.

Citizens boss Craig Davis and his Blackfield counterpart Glenn Howes manned the same midfield engine rooms at Salisbury City and Gosport Borough.

They will go head-to-head tomorrow chasing a place in the showpiece county final against the winners of the Havant & Waterlooville v AFC Bournemouth U21s clash at West Leigh Park (Tuesday, 7.45pm).

As the lowest ranked team left in the competition, Blackfield - currently second in the Sydenhams Premier Division – will start as underdogs against a Winchester side who, despite a recent slump in results, are still well in the mix for the Evo-Stik South West playoffs.

But Howes’ Watersiders could well be a Southern League side themselves next season and, with several of their squad having already played higher, it’s not a tie City can afford to take lightly.

“Blackfield have been knocking on the door of promotion for a long time. Glenn will be a bit disappointed that they’ve just fallen short, but they’ve got a squad capable of doing well in the Southern League,” acknowledged Davis.

“They spend a lot, so it’s no surprise they’re up there. We’ve struggled to compete with them player-wise.

“I know Glenn quite well, we speak a lot and we get on well.

“It’s good that we’re at home tonight. We’ve got a good record at our ground and we hope to lean on that.

“We’ve done well to get to this stage of the competition, coming back from two goals down to beat Basingstoke (the Cup holders, on penalties) and then that epic 4-3 win over Alresford.

“We’ve got ten league games left and a cup semi-final. If we want to do something special, we’re going to need to produce.”

City have fit-again Adam Tomasso back and hope Joe Hayward and skipper Jamie Barron can soldier on through injury. Joe Cook and Liam Gilbert remain sidelined with foot problems and Dan Williamson may struggle to get back from work in London on time.

AFC Bournemouth’s U21s, last season’s beaten finalists, face an in-form Havant & Waterlooville side sitting second in the Vanarama National League South.

Hawks boss Lee Bradbury, along with Brian Stock, James Hayter, Matt Tubbs, Wes Fogden, Dan Strugnell and Jordan Rose, are all former Cherries players.