BRADFORD (Park Avenue) boss Mark Bower has welcomed a break in play, but said his side have a real determination to get back on track.

Avenue have struggled of late and are still without a win in 2019 seeing them drop to fourth in the Vanarama National League North.

The weekend’s break in action, due to freezing conditions, has probably come at the perfect time for Bower’s side to rejuvenate their promotion challenge.

He said: “We’ve had a little bit of a breather for the players. We had a hectic Christmas schedule and played on some pretty heavy pitches as well since.

“We’ve also had a couple of niggling injuries so it just gives you a little bit of time just to clear them up.”

Saturday’s match holds much importance, with third-placed Spennymoor Town hosting Avenue who sit four points adrift of them.

Bower said he’s excited for the game, but is equally aware of Spennymoor’s strength and said they have the resources to win the league.

He added: “They’ve got good ability, a bit of pace to their team, but some good physical presence as well and a really really good centre-forward who’s bang in form at the minute, and has scored lots of goals.

“They’re a good all round package and it will be one of the toughest games of the season for us.”

Avenue have worked on some elements in training over the forced break, but Bower said his side will continue with the approach that worked so well in the first part of the season.

This includes pushing bodies forward but also being difficult to beat when out of possession.

He said: “Our lads have performed well in some of the tougher games away from home, against some of the play-off teams.

“So we’ve just got to get back to that mentality of being solid and hard to beat and we know that we’ve got goals in our team.

“The stats over the course of the season show that so we’ve just got to try and get back to that.

He added: “There is always pressure, whatever kind of run you’re on, you always want to go into every game looking to win it and looking to see what three points can do for you in terms of the season.”

Bower said: “We were never going to be able to continue the kind of points per game ratio and form that we were on.

“Hopefully we can get a little bit of a boost, I think we need to get in front in a game and if we can do that, hopefully it will give everyone a bit of a lift that can allow us to get back on track with a win.”