IT may have taken a hefty deflection, but they all count, and Bradford (Park Avenue) boss Mark Bower hopes Brad Dockerty's first home goal since his return to Horsfall will see his confidence grow further.

Dockerty was Avenue's top scorer last season, before leaving in the summer to join their fellow National League North side Alfreton Town.

But the 25-year-old struggled to settle there, and he was back at Bradford by September.

It has been a gradual return for the forward, but after scoring in Avenue's heavy 4-1 defeat at Southport, he grabbed a far more vital goal on Monday, the winner in a 2-1 victory over Gloucester City to briefly move his side out of the relegation zone.

Bower said: "Brad's all-around fitness and sharpness is coming back.

"He didn't play much at the start of the season for Alfreton, and then he's had issues with his hamstring since returning that have held him back a little.

"But our games last weekend against Brackley Town and Gloucester showcased him at something like his best.

"He won the free-kick for Will Longbottom's goal against Brackley and he looked a threat in a front two with Jacob Blyth then Eddie Church on Monday.

"He's scored twice in five or six appearances back here now, which isn't bad when you consider we're building him back up to where he was at last season.

"The fact it was such an important goal against Gloucester will hopefully give him an even bigger boost too."

It was not all good news against Gloucester though, with Bower saying: "Mitch Lund tweaked his hamstring, so that's likely to put him out for the next two or three weeks.

"We took Jacob off too because he was feeling a bit of tightness, but that was just as a precaution really.

"It's a given that you're going to have players missing when you've got so many games in such a short space of time, but we've not had it too bad of late, so I hope that continues."

Avenue have another Saturday-Monday double-header this weekend, away to Chester then at home to league new boys Peterborough Sports.

The Horsfall outfit are only in the relegation zone on goal difference, so a good weekend could see them move a few points clear of the dreaded bottom four.

Bower said: "We always seem to do well against Chester at home, but then struggle away.

"I've not had much luck at Chester throughout my career in truth, and hopefully that's something I can look to change, starting this weekend.

"We lost 4-0 there towards the end of last season, but that won't have any bearing on Saturday's game, as both squads have seen plenty of personnel changes.

"Far more relevant for us will be the fact we've won four of our last five games."

As for Monday, Bower said: "Peterborough are a new team, but they've got a few players we know that have played at this level before.

"We're just focusing on Chester for now, but after that, we'll put everything into trying to counter Peterborough's threats.

"With it being a Monday night turnaround, us and Peterborough might look to mix up our team selections, so we could face more of an unknown quantity."

Veterans Adam Nowakowski and Oli Johnson both started last Saturday, and Bower was pleased with how they came through that test, and expects the pair to be fit for this weekend.