Taken from the matchday programme for the visit of Burscough, available on the gate for £2.

First of all I would like to wish everyone at the club the most happy and healthy New Year, and also to our visitors today Burscough FC.

As one of my previous Clubs I will be especially keen to ensure that we continue our rich vein of form and secure the 3 points. It is fair to say Burscough have themselves been on their own good run unbeaten in 5, with 3 wins and 2 draws in recent matches preceded by a heavy 2-6 loss at league leaders City of Liverpool in the Macron Cup.

From our point of view, the standards set by the team in the second half performance in our last outing against a strong and experienced Runcorn Town side was a real bench mark for us all, with some fast intensive football with no shortage of quality alongside a ruthlessness in our defending that bodes well as we continue the turnaround in this season’s fortunes.

It was certainly a comprehensive result and also ticked a box in terms of successfully responding to a half time deficit. Standards are always there to be challenged and improved upon which we shall be endeavouring to do going forward.

The form of the team has been down to focus and single minded determination from all corners and this must continue as the job is by no means over, as I am sure that there will be a reaction in the forthcoming matches from the other teams at the “wrong end” of the table. I would again commend the efforts and attitude of the lads and also the level of support mustered for the Runcorn match with a tremendous 346 through the gates.

Hopefully this level of backing and positive vibe will continue to grow and the lads will respond accordingly, as we move into the back end of the season.

After today’s game we currently have a blank Saturday on the 12^th Jan, and sods law, no midweek fixtures, however we will be attempting to arrange a friendly to keep things ticking over so keep an eye on social media for details!

Enjoy the game!