For a second week on the trot Park Avenue broke up their midweek training schedule with a friendly game.

Manager John Deacey felt it would be the best preparation ahead of today’s FA Cup third qualifying-round tie against Penrith.

The decision to do the same the week before paid dividends in last Saturday’s Conference North game.

Avenue came away from Solihull Moors with a hard-earned but well-deserved point from a 2-2 draw.

The result, which took their unbeaten run to ten matches, was gained by a refreshed starting XI that included players who had proved their fitness in the previous friendly.

Deacey had missed that earlier full-scale practice match at Horsfall Stadium because it clashed with his arduous journey up to Cumbria to run the rule over today’s opponents.

However, he had no concerns regarding his own absence. He said: “I could go up to watch that game because I have such a good right-hand man in Mark Hume.

“Mark took the team in that friendly. You need a good assistant and Mark is that man – he can look after all of the players and get everything right. We needed to get some players out on the pitch and some needed rest after a busy schedule so it was a bit of a balancing act.

“We talked about it the day before – who to give the night off to, who needed a long run-out because of time on the bench recently and which players coming back from injury could cope with the physical aspect.

“But it was Mark who made all the calls on the day and he must have got it bang on because the players were perfectly prepared for the Solihull game.

“Mark does really well with the training and he gets his message across because the players have the utmost respect for him. I can’t say enough about him really. It really helps a manager when he has someone so knowledgeable and reliable so I’m lucky.”

Deacey is hoping that this Wednesday’s friendly match has an equally positive effect on this weekend’s game.

“We will need to be at our best because Penrith are a good side. We have to be at it or else we will get turned over. But the players want to do it for the fans, for the club and for themselves.

“The further you get in the FA Cup the bigger the profile and the players love making the headlines.”