FOR the first time in years, John Fisher is willing Swindon Supermarine to succeed this season - albeit for entirely selfish reasons.

Despite formerly being in the dugout at Marine, Fisher has been aiming barbs at the South Marston club since his all-conquering stint as manager at bitter rivals Highworth.

Now the Shrivenham boss believes the cash-strapped Webb’s Wood outfit could end up dropping back into the Hellenic Premier Division next season to ease their financial burden. That increases the likelihood of struggling Shrivvy getting relegated to Division One West, leaving Fisher in the unfamiliar position of cheering for the old enemy.

“Looking in from the outside, they were close to dropping into the Hellenic League last summer because of their financial problems so I should say they look a certainty to come down now,” said Fisher. “For the £70,000 they made from their FA Cup run to have gone already just shows what a state they are in financially.

“They put their neck in the noose by paying players that they couldn’t afford.

“I think the consortium that went in there have done a great job to see it out but I really don’t see them staying beyond this season.

“The two lads in charge now (Gary Horgan and Matt Robinson) will stay in charge for the rest of the season and then I think the club will drop the two division into the Hellenic Prem and start again.

“They badly need someone with a bit of money to come in who doesn’t mind losing a bit of that money because you don’t get anything back financially.

“From Shrivenham’s point of view I really hope they don’t drop down because it means the league have to make room for them and another club will be relegated to Division One as a result - so as far as I’m concerned I hope they stay up and do really well!”

Should Marine end up back in the Hellenic, there is no danger of Fisher submitting his CV for any managerial vacancy.

“A few people I’ve spoken to have asked if I’d go back, but I’ve told them, ‘they wouldn’t want me and I certainly don’t want them’.

“I’ve got enough problems of my own to worry about at the moment anyway.”

Those problems concern an increasingly desperate battle to stay in the Hellenic Premier and a crunch home clash with Reading Town tomorrow.

“The squad is looking quite strong now and I’m pleased with what we’ve got, but make no mistake we’ve got 12 games left to play and we need to win six of them,” said Fisher. “We’ve got to play Ardley, Highworth and Shortwood, and let’s be honest, you’d be happy to take a point off of any of them, but we have six winnable games and the one against Reading falls into that category.”

Nigel Packer will play in goal for Shrivvy, with Luke Alford still injured and on-loan Ian Gill unavailable.

Wootton Bassett go to Binfield on the back of a run of good performances and are also at full strength apart from between the sticks. Manager Dave Turner has drafted in Adam Miles to don the gloves.

Highworth continue to plough through their fixture backlog with a trip to Thame.

Kev Tate’s groin and Ben Snook’s knee keep the duo sidelined and broken nose-victim Craig Curtis is still a week away from a return but TJ Bohane should be be fit to start.

There are a pair of Wiltshire derbies in Division One West as Purton host Malmesbury Vics and Cricklade travel to Trowbridge.

Fairford trek to Penn & Tylers Green in the second round of the Supplementary Cup.