BRADFORD Park Avenue’s air of invincibility slipped at the wrong moment as they head into a very tough Emirates FA Cup tie at Harrogate Town on Saturday.

After five victories and three draws in an eight-game unbeaten run stretching back to August 15, Avenue tasted defeat last weekend, beaten 2-1 at struggling Leamington in Vanarama National League North.

They head to the CNG Stadium at Wetherby Road to face their league rivals, who are top of the division and on top form.

Harrogate have won their last four games - three in the league and a stroll in the last round of the cup.

Their consecutive league victories came against York City, in front of a 4,000 capacity crowd last Saturday, Southport and AFC Telford United as Town rattled in ten goals and conceded just two.

They are currently top on goal difference only, however, and their only defeat this term was against joint leaders Salford City.

Avenue manager Mark Bower knows just how stern a test his side faces but feels that last week’s defeat will galvanise his players.

He said: “Everything about this game means that it was the worst possible draw for us.

“We had a tough tie in the last round (Southport away) but this tops that. Harrogate are a full-time club, they’re in great form, they’re top of our league and it’s a 3G pitch at their ground.

“That makes a big difference, the 3G pitch - it maximises home advantage because they play and train on it every day. Anything that could be against us in this tie is, but there again we’ve been in good form and we feel we can win.

“We are going there looking to get through to the next round. By hook or by crook, we want to be in the next round and get a little run in the cup for the exposure and the prize-money.

“That defeat last Saturday hurt the players, and they know they missed an opportunity to get into the play-off places. They want to get back out there and put it right. They want to start another long unbeaten run.”

Avenue may have lost last weekend but they picked up no new injury concerns, and Bower organised a behind-closed-doors friendly on Monday night to get some game-time for returning players.

Adam Nowakowski, Shane Killock, Luca Havern and the Boshell brothers Danny and Nicky all played 90 minutes, so could be back in contention for the cup tie, and on-loan Port Vale defender Graham Kelly has been given permission to play by his parent club, even though it means he will be cup tied.