MARK Bower believes Bradford Park Avenue's trip to King's Lynn Town today will help to provide a true reflection on where his team are at.
For the past couple of weeks, Bower and his men have been in dreamland having won their last three league fixtures; this coming after a run of four games without a win in the National League North.
Victories against Telford United, Buxton and Boston United have seen Avenue leapfrog the relegation zone into 17th place, however, today they face a much tougher challenge when they travel to King's Lynn for a 3:00 pm kickoff.
Speaking ahead of the tie, Bower said: "I don't see why we can't go into this fixture with confidence; it was a tight game when we played against them in the first game of the season and of course, we are on a great run ourselves and are playing with more confidence.
"Over the course of the season, I think because they've played a few less games than every other team because of the excellent run they went on in the FA Cup, I think they'd be top on a points per game ratio. So, essentially we are going away from home to the best team in the league, so it's going to be a challenge. We are in a much stronger position now compared to when we played them at the start of the season, so Saturday's match will help to give us a true understanding as to where we are at. They're a very well-rounded side who like to get the ball down and play, so it's going to be a tough test, but it's one that we are more than ready for."
Despite falling to their third defeat in four games at Banbury on November 22, Bower remained calm and it was clear to see that he had full belief in his side to turn the tide, and that's exactly what happened.
Reflecting on his side's change in fortunes, Bower said: "After the Banbury game, I still had full faith in my team to get out of the relegation soon because we had played extremely well that day and were unlucky to come away with a defeat.
"In recent weeks, I believe the performance level has continued in that way and I'm not overly surprised that we've managed to record three wins on the bounce. I think if anybody would have said after ten games, where we had only three points, that we'd pick up 22 points from the following 12 games, there would have been some very funny looks," Bower joked.
He added: "I always thought that the performances in the first ten league games were far better than the points tally suggested, so I always remained calm and anticipated that the points would come."
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