EASTLEIGH will resist taking any unnecessary gambles with Jai Reason and Craig McAllister tomorrow – even though they are already down to the bare bones.

Both Reason (knee) and McAllister (ankle) have sat out training this week and, unless they’re feeling 100 per cent, won’t be risked for the Vanarama Conference visit of Nuneaton Town (3pm).

With frontmen James Constable (foot), Jack Midson (shoulder) and Ben Wright (knee) already sidelined, along with defender Jamie Turley (arm), manager Richard Hill is fast running out of attacking options.

“The ironic thing is that everybody said I had too many forwards at the start of the season,” said the boss with a wry smile.

“We’ll just have to see how Jai and Macca go over the next day or so and hope we have a bit of luck, but I won’t be taking any chances.

“I’d like to think that if Macca can’t play tomorrow he’d be fit for Kidderminster next week.

“I don’t want to jeopardise them for the Kidderminster game and that’s not because it’s the FA Cup. I know the league’s more important than the Cup, but a player’s health is more important than a football match.”

With Eastleigh having cruised their first ever Conference Premier match 3-0 at Nuneaton on August 9, few would fancy the third-to-bottom visitors to storm ‘Fortress Silverlake’ tomorrow. But two months is a long time in football and there have been major changes at the Warwickshire club since then with ex-Birmingham, Coventry and Republic of Ireland centre-back Liam Daish having replaced Brian Reid at the helm.

Daish is well known in these parts having kicked off his playing career at Portsmouth and co-managed Eastleigh’s south coast rivals Havant & Waterlooville before spells with Welling (caretaker) and Ebbsfleet.

“I’d imagine Liam Daish has made a few changes in personnel and to the way they play, so it will be like playing a different team,” said Hill. “Liam knows this level of football very well and he and his team are not to be underestimated.

“It doesn’t matter a jot that we beat them earlier in the season. We’ve already seen in this league that anyone can beat anyone else.

“Our win up there came as a bit of a surprise. We went up there more in hope than expectation. To win our first game at the highest level was unexpected.”

Daish didn’t take long to make his mark at the James Parnell Stadium, steering Nuneaton to successive home wins over Lincoln and Dover. But they came unstuck 4-1 at Welling last Saturday having had on-loan Coventry goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook sent off for bringing down Wings’ AFC Bournemouth loanee Aristide Bassele at 1-1.

His 21-year-old stand-in James Wren, whose first task was to pick the free-kick out of net, stands by for his full league debut tomorrow.