HARROW Borough will resume Ryman Premier League duties after almost three weeks of cup commitments when they host Ashford Town on Saturday.

The Middlesex outfit were due to name Mark Butler's successor as manager today (Thursday).

Since Butler left to replace Terry Yorath as Margate boss his assistant, Keith Bristow, has been overseeing things at the Tangerines.

Bristow and Harrow boss David Howell were team-mates at Hounslow many years ago and Howell is expecting another tough test as he bids to steer his side away from the wrong end of the table. Ashford have been leaking goals of late and Howell has plenty of attacking options to ponder.

"They have two of our former strikers, Byron Harrison and Brian Haule, in attack and they are a good strike force, a good threat", said Howell. "We've got to get some points and get ourselves back in the pack sooner rather than later when the gaps (in points) appear.

"As long as we knuckle down, work hard and players do certain jobs, we've enough players in the side to give us the lead in tight games. But we need to function better as a team and not just rely on goals from the strikers."

Defenders Richard Orlu, Tobi Jinadu and Rickey Browne are all in contention for Saturday as Howell has a clean bill of health throughout his squad.