BRADFORD (Park Avenue) manager Mark Bower was delighted to see Jordan Preston notch his first goal for the club last time out in a 1-0 win over AFC Telford United, as two of his other strikers have gotten confidence boosts elsewhere.

Preston has played for a few non-league clubs since leaving Blackburn Rovers in 2016, joining his current side Spennymoor Town in March 2022.

But having been restricted to a handful of substitute appearances for them this season, the North-East side loaned the centre-forward to National League North rivals Avenue last month, and he is now finally off the mark for the campaign.

The Avenue boss said: "Jordan's a confident player, and we've seen that since he joined.

"He'd been involved in goals for us before getting that one of his own against Telford.

"It was his first real sniff of goal and he produced an superb long-range effort to score.

"He's a quality striker and the more he plays the better he'll get."

With Preston, Jacob Blyth, Brad Dockerty, Oli Johnson and Will Longbottom among the forwards at the club, that has left no room for Eddie Church or Lloyd Smith for the time being.

The pair are both out on loan, with Church scoring on his Matlock Town debut in the Northern Premier League Premier Division earlier this month, and ex-Barnsley teen Smith seeing his loan at Northern Counties East League Premier Division side Frickley Athletic extended until February after netting three goals in four games for the club.

Bower said: "Eddie's stepped up to us from two leagues below and done a good job so far.

"But the other lads up top are in form and I just felt he needed a run of games.

"It's a good test for him at Matlock, who are still a level higher than he was playing at last season, so the fact he's getting in their team and has already scored for them bodes well.

"With Lloyd, he's already shown glimpses of his talent.

"We just felt he'd benefit from playing men's football, where he'd be learning his trade up front the hard way.

"It's robust at that level, so you've got to be resolute, but he's playing regularly and showing the raw talent he possesses."

Bower's side have won three league games in a row to move themselves four points clear of the drop zone, but will have their work cut out this weekend.

They are due to host newly-promoted Scarborough Athletic at Horsfall tomorrow, with the visitors currently sat in fourth.

Bower said: "They've done really well since going up and it shows the value of having a squad that's, by and large, played together for a while.

"It's taken them a few years to come up from the league below, but they've kept a core of key players from those promotion attempts who have been strong this season too.

"They tend to let in a few but they score a lot too, and you can see they've carried on that good feeling from their promotion.

"They've strengthened this week by bringing in (midfielders) Alex Wiles and Danny Greenfield too, and with them playing on a 3G pitch like us, they'll be used to our surface.

"They might be near the top, but we've won three games in a row ourselves, so we're certainly capable of beating them."

The only current injury issue for Bower is defender Mitch Lund, who is set to be out for another week or so with his hamstring problem.