STEVE Tate would not hesitate to appoint Taffy Richardson as his right-hand man at Newport - if and when he becomes available from Lymington & New Milton.

Although the toughnut midfielder is likely to see out the season with the Jewson Wessex League club, Richardson admits he would like to return to the Dr Martens League next season in a player/coaching capacity.

In Tate's book, the 36-year-old would have all the right credentials to be one of the 'wise old heads' in a largely youthful Newport side.

Tate confirmed: "It's no secret that I'd like someone with Taffy's experience working alongside me and I will go in again in the close season to get him on board."

Richardson had an unfortunate start to his player/manager's career when, against an uncertain background at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, his Salisbury City side were relegated from the Dr Martens Premier Division last season.

Under the leadership of ex-Saint Nick Holmes, the Wiltshire club are flying high again and Tate pointed out: "It's no coincidence that it's virtually the same side Taffy put together which is sitting top of the Eastern Division.

"That's why I wouldn't hesitate to ask him on board as my assistant manager if he becomes available.

"I'd like to build a side similar to Salisbury's, bringing in more good youngsters like Adam Lang, Simon Pilcher and Gareth Keeping and combining those with two or three old heads."

After a tricky sequence of matches against top-six opposition, Newport now face a run of games against some of the lower sides - starting at home to Sittingbourne tomorrow.

Tate said: "I'm looking for four wins out of six to put to bed any lingering doubts about being dragged back into the relegation battle."

Mark Isaacson (suspended) and Pete Tagg (work) are both missing tomorrow along with Danny Rofe, who faces a possible knee operation.

Salisbury boss Nick Holmes reckons the ideal preparation for the promotion showdown at home to Stamford would be a video of the Sittingbourne players celebrating their shock win over the Whites last week.

Although third-placed Stamford are one of the biggest obstacles blocking City's title quest, Holmes reckons every game's a massive one - irrespective of the opposition.

He said: "It doesn't matter if it's Stamford, Banbury, Sittingbourne or Fleet, we're playing, they're all big games. Because we're top, teams want to beat us and you just had to look at the Sittingbourne players last Saturday to see how much it meant to them.

"If we had their jubilation captured on video it would help our players understand what they're up against. If we'd gone to Sittingbourne as a mid-table team, there's no way they would have been as wound up as they were."

Whites, four points clear of chasing Bashley, could again be without knee injury victim Andy Cook. Their bigger selection worries, however, surround next Saturday's visit of fifth-placed Eastbourne for which Roger Emms, Tyronne Bowers and Stuart Brown are suspended.

In an ideal world, second-placed Bashley would like to see Salisbury and Stamford end with honours even tomorrow, but manager Barry Blankley will only have eyes for his own side's performance at Chatham.

He said: "I know it sounds corny, but the only team I'm concerned about is ours. I'm not saying I don't look at the other results - I do - but I can't determine what the other teams do. All I know is that if we stop doing what we're good at - and that's working hard - then we're going to come off the rails."

Blankley certainly has no complaints on that score at the moment. Despite their comfortable 4-0 scoreline, his players never stopped working at home to Dartford last Saturday.

He said: "Everyone's doing their individual job and, more importantly, they're doing it collectively. It summed it up for me last week when a Dartford player got the ball two minutes from time and suddenly found himself with Craig Davis, Graeme Gee and Gary Connolly all tackling him. We're hunting in packs of threes and fours right until the end."

Defender Andy Darnton is out suspended tomorrow but Dave Wakefield returns to the squad after coming safely through a 90-minute reserve run-out in midweek.

Fleet Town have pepped up their Eastern Division survival fight with another new signing.

Ed Hare, a former League of Wales midfielder, was outstanding in last Saturday's 4-1 win at Tonbridge Angels, which pulled the north Hampshire side out of the relegation quicksand into 19th place.

Co-manager Mark Dennis, who has four more signings in the pipeline, said: "Ed's a great signing. He picked up everything in midfield, passed well and got his foot in. "

Histon, one of the flair sides of the division, are next on Fleet's hit-list at Calthorpe Park tomorrow.

"What a lovely scalp that would be," said Dennis.