ECCLESHILL United manager Sean Regan says he is expecting a stern test as the Eagles take on Grimsby Borough in the Northern Counties Eastern League Division One play-off final today.

The two sides are separated in the league by goal difference alone, and Regan has praised his side’s opponents ahead of the promotion clash.

“Grimsby are a strong, organised team with lots of quality,” Regan said. “It will be a very closely-matched game between two sides neck-and-neck in the table.

“We’re looking to provide a similar performance to Wednesday night and I’ll be saying exactly the same things to my players.”

Eccleshill will be without 24-goal striker Luke Harrop and midfielder Jonny Irving after the pair picked up injuries in midweek.

Despite the short turnaround for the rest of his squad, Regan is upbeat about his side’s chances.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s this weekend,” he said. “It’s not an ideal situation after playing such a long game, but we’re ready for it and we’ll certainly give it a good go.

“The character and honesty we showed, as well as our work rate on Wednesday, was there for all to see and I want the players to replicate that in the final.”

Regan also lauded the “amazing” way that his side secured their extra-time passage to the final.

“It was such an amazing way to finish it off,” he said. “We weren’t entirely comfortable going into half-time and then at 2-1 down it was just about staying composed and not panicking.

“We know that we’ve got a comeback in us, so we pushed a lot of guys forward.

"If we stay collected, we always have a chance of getting something from a game.

“I think we deserved to nick that goal. We were confident going into extra-time that we could come away with a result and it was about raising our performance to another level.

“The last-minute equaliser rattled them, so we drove forward and fought for the win. We’re so, so pleased and excited at the prospect of the final.”