Nick Barnes is poised to return for Hythe Town in their Ryman League, Division 1 South trip to Merstham on Saturday.

The midfielder has recovered from a torn calf muscle, sustained before scoring a spectacular second in the 2-0 win at Dulwich Hamlet in late October.

Boss Scott Porter (pictured) said: "Nick will join in training on Thursday and play in Saturday’s game.

Hythe suffered two successive postponements this week but have quickly re-arranged both matches.

The league game against Ramsgate, called off on Saturday, will now be played next Tuesday (December 4, 7.45pm), while the Kent Senior Cup second round tie at Thamesmead, has been fixed for the following Tuesday.

Saturday’s opponents Merstham, who drew 6-6 at Walton Casuals earlier this month, are third joint scorers, but have the third worst defensive record in the league

However, Porter is still expecting them to be hard to beat.

He said: "I have spoken to a couple of people about them and it is a tough place to go.

"They have got a couple of experienced players, Luke I’Anson, who was at Dover and Mark Nowekeji who was playing in the Football League a couple of seasons ago."