Avenue manager Benny Phillips has warned against complacency when Lancaster City come calling for a roses derby on Saturday.

The Yorkshire outfit take on their Lancashire rivals at Horsfall Stadium an hour earlier than normal (2pm) because the visitors are involved in a charity event later in the day.

And Phillips has warned his side not to throw away their excellent recent run in their first game against a team outside the play-off zone for a while.

He said: "We have beaten Curzon, FC United, Bamber Bridge and Garforth Town, who were all in the top five when they played us, but I am not looking at the table at the moment.

"I purposely haven't checked on where Lancaster are in the league (they are tenth) because it is more about what we do on the day.

"It is no good beating teams from the top five and then slipping against a side lower in the table.

"Another thing is that we are getting a name for ourselves now. The results have been so good that we are a scalp to be taken. We can live with that as long as we keep our feet firmly on the ground."

Phillips added: "Lancaster asked us for a 1pm kick-off but it would have given us more problems than them so we came to a compromise.

"They have a charity event at their club and the players have to get back in good time, which we wanted to help with.

"I just hope it doesn't affect our crowd. We hope to see all the regular faces and some of the new ones who have been making their way down in recent weeks."

No-one could accuse Avenue of not giving value for money lately. They are on a run of seven straight victories in the league, which saw them win the division's Club of the Month award for November.

The midweek win at Ossett that put them into the quarter-finals of the West Riding County Cup, earning them a home tie against Eccleshill United, came as a bonus.

Avenue's form has established them as serious title contenders. They are currently second with a game in hand over leaders Curzon Ashton, who are four points clear.

Phillips is hoping Griff Jones will be available and could call up under-19s player John Cullen, who impressed on his first-team debut at Ossett.