BRIGHOUSE Town have another chance to boost their survival hopes in the Evo-Stik Division One North tomorrow when they travel to fellow strugglers Skelmersdale United.

Skem have suffered the ignominy of being locked out of their own ground this term and have played home games at nearby Prescot Cables and Marine.

They organised a collection at Brighouse’s Yorkshire Pay Stadium last Saturday when Vill Powell’s men were at home against leaders South Shields.

That game ended in a 5-1 defeat for Town but Powell believes his side will climb the table and guarantee their safety in the division.

He said: “That game was always going to be a difficult one as we’re on an uneven playing ground with the likes of South Shields.

“I always said that the first third of the season would be about us setting our stall out for the winter months.

"It was difficult taking over here, not just because of what the pervious manager achieved, but because the vast majority of the players left before this season started.”

Powell was following in the footsteps of Paul Quinn, Town’s long serving manager who had lifted the club to its current position. In non-league terms it was like David Moyes following Sir Alex Ferguson into the hot seat.

Another difficulty arose when Powell was presented with a budget much reduced after the club had pushed for promotion the previous season but had just fallen short. The was what led to Powell having only club captain Adam Field and Tom Haigh to work with, alongside a whole new squad.

However, the boss is looking forward to the trip to take on a Skelmersdale side three places, but just three points better off. For Powell it’s the start of the crucial time of the season.

He said, “At this level – conditions, pitches, the weather – it all comes into play and you see your true players, the ones that will dig in on a cold wintry night away from home after a three-hour journey.

“They are the one’s you can one hundred percent rely on and I think we’ve got plenty of them in our squad so I’m happy to go into the next two or three months with these lads because we will get results in these conditions.

“We’re not cut adrift and a good run can take us up the table. We’ve set our sights on being in the top half come April and if we are it won’t be too late to push for a place in the play-offs.”

Town go into the game still inside the bottom three but just three points behind 17th placed Skem who do not have a good home record. The hosts have got three games in hand, after a rash of postponements and the difficulties of renting grounds, but Powell’s men would be level on points with a win and are looking to get last weekend’s defeat out of the system.