MARK Bower is remaining positive as his Bradford (Park Avenue) side return to league action after a heavy cup defeat.

Table-toppers Avenue travel to AFC Telford United in Vanarama National League North tomorrow following a 4-0 loss at Altrincham in the FA Trophy third qualifying round last Saturday.

But Bower says his side will learn the lessons from the defeat and instead have plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

Tomorrow's clash could turn out to be a pivotal game in the league season, as Avenue remain top on 34 points, one ahead of Chorley, while Telford are third, just three points off the leaders.

Centre-back Conor Branson will miss tomorrow's trip to Shropshire as he serves a one-match suspension after accumulating five bookings.

He said: "The defeat is a little reminder to everyone how tough the league is. We will learn lessons from it.

"We have bounce back well from any setbacks we have had this season.

"It was the first time we have not scored in a game this season. I can forgive the lads an off day now and again.

"There is no panic from us. We had a good chat after the game. It was our first defeat in seven games.

"We need to get back to basics and have been working on that in training this week.

"I'm not getting too carried away about the league table at this stage of the season.

"Altrincham have had some good results against us. It will be a different challenge at Telford, they are third in the league. It is a really difficult away game for us. It will be a really good test. It's not the easiest place to go.

"We have score more goals and won more games than anyone else in the league.

"It's been a positive start to the season for us. There is plenty to be positive about.

"We have probably done better than a lot of people thought we would."

Altrincham continued their hoodoo over Avenue this season at the J Davison Stadium on Saturday, with their third successive win.

The sides have met in the National League North, the FA Cup and now the FA Trophy and the Robins have come out on top in every encounter. Their biggest margin of victory was reserved for the Trophy tie.

When the sides met in the league, at the Horsfall Stadium, back in September, Alty came from 2-1 down to win 3-2. They knocked Avenue out of the FA Cup in October with a 4-2 victory.

Bower identified the areas where his side lost the third encounter last weekend.

He added: "We gave the ball away too many times on Saturday. They dictated the pace of the game."