Bradford Park Avenue face a significant fixture at Horsfall Stadium tomorrow which could make or break their season.
John Deacey’s men are still harbouring hopes of a play-off finish in their second season in the Conference North.
A win over Vauxhall Motors could see Avenue rise from 11th place, while a defeat would see them locked on the same number of points as their visitors.
The Motormen go into tomorrow’s game on the back of a 1-0 win over Worcester City and will be looking to avenge their 2-0 home defeat to Avenue back in December.
Avenue earned a good point from a 1-1 draw at promotion-chasing Harrogate Town last time out and they have won three of their last five league games.
The only thing that marred the derby day draw last weekend was the sending off of centre back James Knowles. He and the home side’s former Guiseley midfielder Adam Bolder were both dismissed following an incident in the first half.
Avenue press officer Lewis Sale said: “It was about 30 minutes or so into the game and the incident happened right in front of the dugouts. The referee took time to think before making his decision. I don’t think either of the managers agreed with it.
“It was still a really good game of football and Grant Black and Ryan Qualter, two of the recent signings, did very well.”
Deacey has been reshaping his squad with the run-in in mind.
The next game after today’s clash with Vauxhall is a trip to former manager Lee Sinnott’s Altrincham.
With two very testing games back-to-back, Avenue could find themselves being left behind in the hunt for play-off places so they need to be picking up points.
Deacey said: “We are still playing catch-up after a shocking December and having a small squad killed us last season around this time, just when we needed to push on.
“We still have a small squad and some of the lads are tired because of the amount of games we played but we have got to get on with it.
“The board have been great with us and provided the funding to get some new players in – in fact they have said we can get another couple in if we feel we need them.”
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