City have received a pre-match boost ahead of their crucial Blue Square South game at home to Bishop’s Stortford, kick-off 3:00pm on Saturday, with the news that promising young central defender Mark Haines has been declared fit for consideration after injuring his ankle in mid-January.

The Clarets prospect accidentally kicked a corner flag at Weymouth eleven games ago though the consequences were less comical as he was forced to sit out through injury until this weekend. But an MRI scan on the troubled area has shown a full recovery for a game which Head Coach Glenn Pennyfather believes is as important as any other.

“Each game gets bigger as we get nearer the end and the players all know that,” he said, knowing his team is almost injury-free and with only Marlon Patterson out suspended against his old club. “As soon as we were out of the Trophy we knew it was the business end of the league campaign and for now this is the biggest game of the season.”

The Hertfordshire outfit had made a promising start to the season but have fallen away since and Glenn believes their close proximity will add an extra dimension to the fixture, adding: “We want to take three points from every match but Bishop’s Stortford will be exactly the same. It’s the nature of the game that local derbies are extra competitive and they had a good win over Bromley recently so they’ll be tough opponents.”

Bishop’s Stortford: Address: Woodside Park, Dunmow Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 5RG. Phone: (08700) 339930. Position Last Season: 9th in the Blue Square South. Miles from Chelmsford: 20. Approx. Journey Time: 30 minutes. Nickname: The Blues. Team Colours: Blue & White. Ground Capacity: 4,000 (700 Covered Terracing). Seats: 298. Official Website: www.bsfc.co.uk.

Weather Forecast: Sunny Intervals. 4 degrees Celsius. Wind 14 mph.

Blue Square Odds: Chelmsford 4/9, Draw 3/1, Bishop's Stortford 5/1.