WINCHESTER City are hopeful of getting their former skipper and central defensive linchpin Leigh Mills back for yet another spell at the club to help offset injury and unavailability problems.

Having banked four points from nine under stand-in boss Mick Catlin, City urgently need some big results from their next three games now that manager Ian Saunders is back from military duty.

The eighth-placed Citizens travel to Bishops Cleeve on Saturday before hosting home games against Bideford on Tuesday and third-placed Taunton Town next weekend.

Director of football Dave Malone reported: “We’re trying to get two or three players in.

“We may have persuaded Leigh Mills to come back and play two or three games for us before the end of the season.

“He’s signed on for Hamble Club and I think he’s playing for them (at Romsey Town) tomorrow as a favour to (Hamble co-boss) Ben Kneller, but we’re hoping we may have him for Tuesday.

“We’re also after another centre-half Lewis Hyde, who used to be at Petersfield and has been playing for Horsham this season, and we’ve been speaking to (wideman) Nick Watts who has left AFC Totton. We’ve made Nick an offer, which is nowhere near what he was getting at Totton, and it’s whether he accepts it or not.

“We’ve got an horrendous list of injuries and unavailabilities.

“Adam Tomasso’s out for at least a month with a knee injury, Danny Smith’s got a cut above the eye, Danny King has a broken hand, although we’re hoping he can play with a small cast on it, and both Robbie Matthews and Taz Roberts are suspended tomorrow.”

Winchester are nine points shy of fifth-placed Salisbury with 12 games to go and Malone said: “We’re at a crossroads point yet again.

"If we’d got six or seven points out of the last three games we might have had a chance, but it’s a big ask now. We’ve got to win the next three to stand any chance whatsoever.”