BRADFORD Park Avenue will hope to keep their pre-season momentum going when they visit Throstle Nest tomorrow to take on Albion Sports.

It will be the first of back-to-back Saturdays at the Nest for Avenue as they visit Albion's landlords Farsley Celtic in a week's time.

Mark Bower’s men opened their friendly fixtures with a 6-1 win at Campion followed by a 3-0 win over Bradford neighbours City at Horsfall Stadium.

But the Avenue chief is not getting carried away. He said: “You can take results in pre-season with a pinch of salt because the opposition are trying different things and so are we.

“We’re pleased with the level of fitness after two games and, I can’t lie, it’s always nice to win. From now it’s about gradually stepping it up a level and increasing the workload.

“We want the players to start getting more game time but not to do too much. We’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday so everyone will get some game time over the coming eight days and we’ve just got to be sensible and manage the squad.”

Avenue’s Nicky Clee picked up a slight injury against the Bantams and was substituted as a precaution.

Bower said: “Nicky picked up a slight groin strain last Saturday so we took him off. Muscles get tight with the workload at this stage of the season and we need to manage any niggles and strains.

“We’ve got a relatively small squad and the aim is to keep as many of them as fit as possible.”

Albion’s first friendly was played on the 3G pitch at Bradford Academy’s John Craig Centre and it ended 5-5 against amateur club Hunslet. The plus side for the Lions was a brace apiece for Alex Cusack and Omar Habeeb, and a Rhys Jenkinson goal.

Kulwinder Sandhu’s side should have played City’s development side in midweek as further preparation but the Bantams pulled out. Sandhu said: “It’s a shame that the game against the City XI didn’t go ahead, it was nothing to do with us.

“But we’ve got a big friendly against Park Avenue and we’re hoping that will bring a few hundred through the gate. It will be a great game for our players to test themselves and if it’s played in a good atmosphere that would be great for the fans.”