Albion take on the Northern Counties East League leaders tomorrow – and they do so more as equals than whipping boys as the result of the clash is far from a foregone conclusion.

Sports boss Kulwinder Sandhu initially claimed the club would be happy to consolidate this season but early results have forced him to re-evaluate.

However, he knows his select group of players will face several big tests this campaign on top of today’s trip to Division One pacesetters Worksop Parramore.

Sandhu said: “This will definitely be a tough game and it is unfortunate that we have got a couple of players missing. It would have been nice to have gone to the club at the top of the league with a full squad.

“But Jamie Bairstow is banned – he got sent off playing for Tyersal, so it is just a one-game suspension – and Asif Hussain is injured. There are also a few others who have made other arrangements because this was supposed to be a free Saturday for us.

“We only found out about the fixture ten days ago. That seems to be the trouble for us at the moment. We can’t get any momentum going because every time we have a good win we seem to have a blank Saturday right after it.”

The points have still kept coming though and Albion are being seen as possible promotion contenders in their first season on the non-league pyramid.

Sandhu said: “I think we have shocked a few people. We have had a lot of very positive feedback from the clubs we have faced so far – and even some that we still have to play.

“I wanted to slip under the radar and get established on the quiet in our first term. But I’m a bit of a greedy person and I’d like us to push on and see just how far we can go now.”