West play their third game in five days as they look to get back to winning ways on the road to Northwich Victoria, with both sides desperate to put together a strong end to seasons that look destined to end in midtable at best.

Having a chance to make it 5 wins in a row on Thursday night, West clearly (and justifiably) had their minds elsewhere when they conceded the crucial goal in a 2-1 loss against AFC Liverpool on Thursday. With both sides pushing for a winner, West defender Joshua Tinker went down in the 90th minute after an innocuous aerial challenge for the ball, with play only resuming after a lengthy delay – at which point Josh was on his way to hospital. He will, understandably, be missing for the game.

The second attempt at playing this fixture, on 3rd March, was billed as a relegation six-pointer but West are now closer to the top six than the bottom four after a terrific start to spring. Tuesday night’s excellent win over Padiham was their fourth victory in a row and they have taken 17 points from a possible 24 since that postponement against Thursday’s visitors.

The hosts currently sit 3 places below West in the table in 14th, though they do have 2 games in hand and only a 3 point deficit to make up. The Trickies will have been hoping for better in their debut season in the North West Counties, though recent fundraising efforts and signing their management team to 2 year deals mean they are already building towards the future. Their recent fixtures have been somewhat of a mixed bag, too: along with a 5-0 win at AFC Darwen and impressive victories against Winsford (2-3) and Maine Road (0-1), they’ve also been soundly beaten by Irlam (1-4) and Burscough (2-1), with their last game ending in a 5-0 loss away at Squires Gate.

At a glance

Last time vs Northwich Victoria

Tuesday 28 November, 2017