BRADFORD Park Avenue head to Stockport County’s Edgeley Park ground seeking a second consecutive victory over the Hatters but they will be without last week’s match-winning hero James Knowles.

The centre back who lashed in a dramatic stoppage-time strike to help Avenue bank all three points as the clubs clashed in the National League North is cup tied for Saturday's FA Trophy Third Qualifying round clash after playing for Farsley Celtic in the competition while on loan to the Throstle Nest club.

Knowles said: “There’s no reason why we can’t go there and do it again after what we saw last Saturday.

“Stockport are a good side but we showed that we deserve the right to be on the same pitch last week. They are higher than us in the league but the way we’re playing at the moment I think we can beat anybody in our division, even the ones challenging for promotion.

“If we do get the win it might spark a little cup run and that would be great for the club as long as we keep climbing the table when the chance to play for points comes around.”

Knowles, who only recently returned to Park Avenue from Farsley Celtic, can at at least see a positive in his Trophy predicament.

He said: “I’m cup tied unfortunately because I played for Farsley against Radcliffe Borough in the preliminary round. I wouldn’t mind but it was one of the few games I started for them this season, in fact the reason I left there was because I simply wasn’t playing enough.

“But it gives me an extra week to rest and the lads will be okay without me. They might win 4-0 this week and then I won’t be able to get back in the team again, that would be typical.

“The manager was aware that I was cup tied when he signed me and he’s given me a programme to work to this weekend regarding fitness. I don’t think that he will make many changes because the lads deserve to have another crack at Stockport – some of the football we played last week was superb.

“Actually a lot of the lads are disappointed that we don’t have another league game this week because of the momentum that we’ve got going. We’ve won four of our last five games and we were really annoyed that we didn’t win the other one.

“It was Stalybridge at home and we had a couple of injuries and a few suspensions and we just never got going on the day.”

Coincidentally Farsley have also reached this stage of the competition and they will be hosting Avenue’s National North counterparts Tamworth. The Celts have already beaten one higher-ranking club in their run with a 3-2 win at Evo-Stik Premier Division outfit Barwell in the last round.

Former Avenue men Paul Walker, Alex Davidson and Lewis Nightingale were all on target.