MARK Collier believes his Swindon Supermarine side will be heading to one of the Southern League Premier Division’s most ambitious clubs when they travel to Weymouth tonight.

The Terras were a Blue Square South outfit last term and even with the club in dire financial straits, chairman George Rolls stated publicly that his long-term aim was to bring Blue Square Premier football back to the Wessex Stadium.

But a rock-bottom finish in 09/10 resulted in Weymouth coming down to the Southern Premier, leaving them two divisions short of Rolls’ target, and Marine boss Collier reckons the south coast side will be keen to bounce back up the footballing ladder as soon as possible.

“I don’t think Weymouth would want to be in the division for too long, unfortunately their misdemeanours of the past have come back to haunt them,” he said.

“With them having a big fanbase for this division I’d imagine that would give them a healthy budget to push on.

“We’re going to one of the big non-league grounds and we’re told they are expecting a crowd in excess of 700, so there’s an incentive for us there to perform well.”

This evening’s contest provides a return to Dorset for midfielder Chris Allen, who played for Weymouth last season, and assistant coach Tom Jones, who played for the club in the 80s.

Marine will be without centre-back Dave Bampton and midfielder Sam Morris as both are suffering with tight hamstrings.

New midfielder Jamie Gosling, formerly of Yeovil and Torquay, looks set for his second league appearance as he continues to build up his match fitness.

Collier added: “It’s not ideal that the match is on a Thursday but that’s their midweek night so we have got to go with it.

“The players are used to going all over the country, the only bugbear is that it’s so close to the weekend’s game.”

Tonight’s match will be dedicated to Weymouth’s late president Bob Lucas.

“There will also be a minute’s silence prior to kick-off and the club will donate half the gate receipts to Lucas’ family.

Meanwhile, the Marine committee has announced that HJ Webb & Son is the club’s new ground sponsor. Hunts Copse will now be known as the Webbs Wood Stadium.

In last night’s football, Shrivenham went down 2-0 away at Slimbridge in the Hellenic League Premier Division.