Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley wants his players to build on their midweek win over Blyth Spartans when they visit Bradford Park Avenue on Saturday.

Moors are hoping that their season is finally up and running following the 2-2 draw with league leaders King’s Lynn last Saturday and Tuesday night’s one-sided 5-0 home win over Blyth, and now he’s aiming for seven points in a week at the Horsfall Stadium.

“I thought the last two performances have been very good,” he said. “We’ve played some good football, and on Tuesday we cut out the daft mistakes, and I was very pleased with a clean sheet.

“We took a high percentage of our chances against Blyth, and it could have been seven or eight. I thought we pinned Blyth back well, and dominated possession.

“Now, we want the same level of performance against Bradford, although they have improved since the new manager came along, and we expect a tough game.

“Our performances are like a carbon copy of last season when we started slowly, lost a few games, but then steadily picked up during September and got some momentum going.

“I’ve set the players a target of seven points from nine out of this week’s games. We’ve got four from the first two – although it could have been six if we hadn’t made costly mistakes against King’s Lynn – and now I want another three at Bradford before we have a break from the league for the FA Cup tie at Lancaster.

“We know that if we can play anywhere near our best, then we will be tough to beat.”

Striker Adam Boyes looks almost certain to start against his old club, having scored in each of the club’s last two matches.

“Adam and James Roberts have done well in recent games. They’ve scored in each of our last two games, and they’ve created chances for others.”

However, Ainsley has several injury problems to contend with. Midfielder Dan Ward limped off during the Blyth game, while midfielder Shane Henry, striker Glen Taylor and defender Scott Harrison are also ruled out. Full back Carl Magnay is unavailable today, so Ainsley will probably put a couple of youngsters on the bench.

Bradford, meanwhile, have yet to win at home in five matches at the Horsfall Stadium, but they are steadily recovering under manager Marcus Law, who took over after two early heavy defeats.

They have won just once this season, at Darlington, while in midweek they signed defender Josh Heaton from Quakers.

In the BetVictor NPL Premier Division, South Shields are at Matlock, Morpeth are at home to Buxton, and Whitby host Hyde United.

In the North West Division, Marske go to Trafford – who play Darlington in the FA Cup next week – while Dunston head to Prescot Cables.