However well Avenue play tomorrow at Gainsborough Trinity, it will be a disappointing day.

Coming off at 4.45pm, fans, directors, management and players will take their customary flick through Teletext in the bar at Northolme to see the other results from their league.

But they will have a longer wait than usual, as they first have to wade through the scores from the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.

And Avenue will know they should have been there.

A complacent display against Bridlington Town two weeks ago cost Avenue the chance to play tomorrow for a place on Match of the Day.

So instead it is a rescheduled league game and a chance for the UniBond authorities to get ahead of the fixtures in case of another frozen winter.

This trip to Lincolnshire should have been made on March 22 but the 4-3 home reverse against the Northern Counties East side in the cup means Brid are up against Southport tomorrow while a league game is Avenue's lot.

And it should be a tough game for Bradford, hoping to return to winning ways after the disappointing defeat at Wakefield & Emley last weekend.

Only a Graham Mitchell penalty - one of only two scored in five attempts by the team from the spot this season - decided the tie when the two sides met in early September in an incredibly tight game at Horsfall Stadium.

"There will be no excuses this time," said Avenue boss Trevor Storton, who believes the hangover from a freezing victory at Hucknall was partially to blame for last week's defeat.

"Our minds will be totally on this game, the FA Cup is gone now. All I want to is three points but Gainsborough are a tough side to beat on their own ground."

Skipper Wayne Benn returns from suspension for the trip to Lincolnshire and is expected to slot back into his central midfield.

The only injury concern is Matt Daly, the lanky defender is suffering with an ankle injury but Storton is hopeful to have him available.

But Avenue were hit by a blow this week when transfer target Alan Morgan failed to agree terms.

Storton was hoping to bring the former Tranmere Rovers midfielder in from Doncaster to Horsfall Stadium but the loan deal fell through.

The manager is still looking to bolster his squad but a low pay-out from Paddy Kenny's transfer and the early cup exit are doing little to help his cause.