BRADFORD Park Avenue will be hoping to avoid the curse of the manager of the month as they host neighbours FC Halifax Town in a tasty National North derby tomorrow.

Avenue battled their way out of the relegation places in February courtesy of a run that earned Bower his accolade, although they were stalled by a poor home display last weekend.

After three victories on the bounce, Avenue slumped to a 1-0 defeat against mid-table Gloucester City.

Jake Hibbs made his Avenue debut as a second-half substitute but, as he is currently on loan from Halifax, he will not be allowed to feature against his parent club.

Bower said: "We'll still have Nicky Boshell out injured. He's not trained fully in the week and obviously Jake's not eligible.

"But we've got a good squad, probably the strongest it's been since I've been at the club, so we should be all right."

The Shaymen also go into the game on the back of a defeat following a 1-0 loss at Alfreton Town on Tuesday. Halifax remained in the play-off places despite their defeat against a side who had been on the same points total as Avenue, although Billy Heath's men are now inside the top five on goal difference only.

Bower said: "It was a bit of surprise that they didn't win at Alfreton but not a shock.

"Once again it's another indication of the strength in this league. I've said it before, there are no whipping boys in the division and any club is capable of getting a positive result against any opposition."

Bower's first game in charge of Avenue was against his former club at The Shay and it ended in a 4-0 defeat – but there have been big changes since. Players have come and gone and the squad has a different mentality.

"We've come a long way since then and I certainly hope we'll be able to defend crosses into our box better than we did that day," said Bower.

"Going into that last game, I think the club had lost nine or ten on the spin and confidence was on the floor. We've had joy against some of the lower-table sides since than but we've not really done well against the top sides.

"It would be nice to get that marquee victory in a big derby in front of our home supporters. Our fans deserve better because they've been short-changed too often at home this season."