Bradford Park Avenue are on the road for another cup tie on Saturday as they head to the midlands to take on Stafford Rangers in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy.

John Deacey took his side to Doncaster Rovers in the first round of the FA Cup last weekend and they gave the League One high-fliers a tough match.

It was a game worthy of the Yorkshire derby tag and Avenue were only beaten late on when the home side netted their third goal in a 3-1 win.

Despite having another away tie, Avenue will be favourites tomorrow – which is not their forte as some of their best results over the years have been when they were underdogs.

That makes this weekend’s clash a banana skin to avoid as Deacey’s men are more than a full division higher than their 14th-placed Evo-Stik League Premier Division hosts.

Bradford are seventh in Blue Square Bet North and, despite their defeat at the Keepmoat Stadium – and a West Riding County Cup exit at league rivals and neighbours Guiseley – they are still on a high.

Avenue have not lost a league game since mid-September and their two cup defeats since then have both been against sides above them, albeit only just above in Guiseley’s case. That should see them going into Saturday’s latest knockout game in good spirits.

Another thing in their favour is the rare free midweek Deacey’s men have enjoyed since returning from Doncaster with their heads held high. Avenue also had a full bench, so any injury concerns are ebbing away.

Deacey remains without cover at centre back, with Adam Clayton and Amjad Iqbal still on the way back from injuries, but Ross Daly was named among the substitutes at the Keepmoat. Daly had not featured on a team sheet this term after a hip operation in the summer.

Close-season signing Jamie Jackson was also on the bench but Deacey’s outfield options were reduced as goalkeeper Tim Deasy picked up an injury late on against Doncaster and had to be replaced by Avenue’s only other first-team squad keeper Ben Higginson.