I have crossed paths with Dave many times over the past few seasons and it’s always good to catch up with him. His teams always battle hard and I know today won’t be the easy game that a few may expect. Droyslden only narrowly beat them mid-week, and I know Dave will have looked at today’s game as one he can get points from, so we need to be professional and continue playing as we have been doing of late

In our last home game at Shawbridge we won 5-1 against Droylsden, and although they went down to ten men in the first half, I think its the best we have played. Lewis Sugden in particular was outstanding and scored two great goals.

Along with Lewis, we have Josh Gregory, Andreas Bianga and Hyuga Tanner we have 4 very good midfielders all playing for two or three spots, so they know they need to be on their game all the time.

After Droylsden we made trips to Ossett Town, Trafford, Widnes and finally Southport. So where to begin?

We are now out of all cup competitions after losing narrowly to Ossett, getting knocked out on penalties to Trafford, and getting a lesson from a full-time Southport team.

Of course we are disappointed to be out of the cups but in between we’ve won away at Widnes, taking 7 points from a possible 9 in our last 3 league games. This has enabled us to climb up the table and away from the relegation drop zone which was our priority.

We are now 7 points clear of third bottom and 7 points adrift of the play-offs so the next two months will shape our season and what kind of a run-in we will have.

We have a difficult November ahead with todays game, followed by two tough away trips to Prescott and league leaders Runcorn. However we are one of the in-form teams and therefore we must kick on.

Some of you may have been surprised to see Jamie Rainford leave for Ramsbottom United after only 4 games. He is big friends with Chris Wilcock, the new Rams manager, and felt he owed him after the support he had shown whilst they were together at Glossop. I was disappointed he left but I can understand why and he went with our best wishes. Jamie was the first to message me after the Widnes victory so it shows we left an impression on him.

We moved quickly to bring in another forward and acquired Henry Limpitshi-Bongwanga from FC United thanks to their new manager Neil Reynolds. Henry is another young player with a lot to learn but we can provide him with that platform and we’ll see how he does.

It’s also good to have Jonah Gosling back after his serious facial injury, and Ryan Steele also returns to the club after not really being involved pre-season so he will be a useful addition.
Ben Matthews (Chadderton) and Obi Anoruo (Winsford) have both gone out to get some more game time We’ll be keeping a close eye on both as we may need them at some point and certainly if they gain the form that I know they can both reach.

Finally, as it’s always good to finish on a positive note, crowd favourite Antoine Recizac has this week signed a contract at the club. Antoine has been outstanding in recent weeks and he is fully deserving of the deal that will keep him as a Clitheroe player for the foreseeable future.

Enjoy the game,
Lee Ashforth