Barkingside boss Michael Walther expects a tricky test against mid-table Sporting Bengal this weekend.

Side travel away to face the 12th placed outfit at the Mile End Stadium on Saturday as they look to bounce back from three league defeats in a row.

“Bengal are a good footballing side who on their day are capable of beating everyone in the league,” Walther said.

“They’ve started off better than they normally do and will want to keep that going I’m sure.

“Bengal have got a couple players in the midfield who like to run with the ball and get up the pitch.

“They’ve also got a lad called Cody Cameron who is a good player, I’ve seen him a few times and he’s been good every time.”

Walther admits there is no easy games in the Essex Senior League and his side must show up every minute of the match to get results.

“To be honest all of the games in this league there is no walkovers whether you’re playing someone at the top or the bottom.

“It comes down to a mistake in the defensive areas or a stroke of luck in the forward area.”

Barkingside are expected to stick with a similar line-up for the match and Walther admits having a small squad is creating a good atmosphere.

“At the moment we just have Mathieus Santos who is on loan to us from Barking out for a couple more weeks. We’re now a squad of 21 players, which is good as we now have a smaller squad, where they all feel part of it and all feature in the squad.

“Everyone is still really positive in the room despite the results.”

The club has moved to bring in former Dagenham & Redbridge, Solihull Moors and Barking striker Shomari Barnwell this week to create more competition.

“We’ve signed Shomari Barnwell who has played at a higher level and he’ll be playing a few games for us now, which is a big boost for us.”

Barkingside go into the match on the back of three straight Essex Senior League defeats as they lost 3-1 to Basildon United on Tuesday evening.

Side went ahead in the second half but then saw the hosts Marcus Bowers levelled the score from the spot before United’s new signing Luke Hornsley applied a cool finish to give the hosts the lead then Ash Blackburn sealed the win.