Eastleigh boss Paul Doswell watched his side come from behind to beat nearest rivals Newbury and then promised: "Matt Le Tissier will start on Wednesday night."

Second-placed Newbury arrived at Ten Acres intending to dampen the home side's mood ahead of Le Tissier's long-awaited debut. And they succeeded on 39 minutes when midfielder Jason Cafell gave the visitors a shock, but not undeserved, lead - volleying a loose ball into the top-left corner from 20 yards.

"We didn't play well in the first half. We couldn't get our passing and movement going like we can," said Doswell. "At home we normally start quite sharply but it was a great goal by them, a fantastic strike. But we sat too deep and they were defending deeply anyway so, it was very, very stretched."

A tactical reshuffle at half- time ensured that Eastleigh dominated the second half in front of a crowd of around 300.

Newbury skipper James Caswell conceded a penalty within ten minutes of the restart when he brought down the lively David Asker.

But Warren Kenna's left-footed spot-kick was a comfortable height for Geoff Sim, who dived to his left to keep out the centre back, before denying Robbie Matthews who had a shot tipped around the post.

"I got the boys to squeeze up in the second half and we played the rest of the game in their half," added Doswell, who replaced David Laws with Kevin Reacord when the striker was forced off with a dead leg in his first game back from injury.

"We had four chances in the first ten minutes and, when we missed the penalty, I thought it wasn't going to be our day," admitted Doswell.

Sam Carter and assistant boss David Hughes were also introduced and it was the substitutes who helped to rescue all three points for Eastleigh.

Carter equalised with a 20-yard drive into the bottom left corner and, with ten minutes left, Hughes beat three defenders down the right before crossing for Reacord to fire the winner at the far post.

"Tactically, we weren't on our game, but when we passed and moved the ball quickly it could have been five or six. But, in the second half, we did what we're good at," said Doswell.

Now all thoughts turn to Wednesday night when Le Tissier will start in a free role behind the front two against Newport IOW in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

Doswell added: "We're expecting a crowd of between 800 and 1,000 but we're a team and Le Tiss will be just another player. We won't be making any special dispensations for him."