Match preview:

Horsham’s long unbeaten record at Tooting will be tested on Tuesday evening with the travails of the past couple of weeks leaving Simon with what can best be described as a threadbare squad. As if the absence of both Ryan Marriott and Jahmahl King, who begin their respective three and four match bans for their part in the Hastings debacle, wasn’t bad enough an accumulation of bookings also rules Scott Harris out of the match, the holidaying Michael Hunter is unavailable for two weeks and Byron Napper’s injury looks set to keep him out of action until later this month. Difficult circumstances with which to approach any match, let alone a Tooting side who have shown signs of a recovery with big victories over Whitstable Town and Redhill in the past week.

Their emphatic 6-0 triumph over Whitstable was the Terrors’ biggest since 2006 and an equally dominant, if less high-scoring, display at free-falling Redhill made it back-to-back league wins for the first time this season with those six points enabling Tooting to leapfrog the Hornets who were without a game at the weekend. There’s still a long way to go, of course, but it’s a positive step for this famous old club after the troubles of the past couple of seasons that has seen six different names occupy the managerial hot-seat in that time.

Relegation from the Premier Division in 2012 (along with Horsham) and unrest at what supporters viewed as the mismanagement of the club saw some members unite to form Tooting & Mitcham Wanderers during the summer, entering the new side into the Surrey South Eastern Combination Intermediate Division – some four tiers below the Ryman League. While not everyone has turned their back on the Terrors, attendances are markedly down this season on last (averaging 173 against 207 in 2012/13) but this fixture is traditionally well-supported by the Horsham faithful, due to its relatively close proximity and the Hornets’ interminable success rate that has returned eight wins and two draws from their last ten league visits.

The match will see a return to the Imperial Fields for former Terrors stopper Dave King, who has joined Horsham as cover for the absent Hunter, while facing the Hornets will be Gareth Williams who was the Hornets'' number one ‘keeper in 2006/7