LEE Duckworth says a two-week break came at just the right time for his Winsford United side as they prepare to return to action.

Blues are on the road twice this week – they travel to Charnock Richard on Saturday, kick off 3pm, before a trip to Bootle on Tuesday, kick off 7.45pm.

They had no fixture at the weekend, but Duckworth believes his side have used the time productively.

He hopes they injury crisis that engulfed his side has now abated and they can start climbing the North West Counties League Premier Division table.

“It’s a break you don’t need because nobody wants to be out of the cup competitions in the early stages,” he said.

“It happens, though, and we’ve had to make the best of the situation.

“We had nine lads missing in our last game so we’ve used the time to get them back.

“It’s an unnecessary break but it’s one that came at a good time for us.

“The main thing is we have to start climbing the table again.

“We had a fairly decent start before injuries and suspensions started to kick in.

“We’ve had to put square pegs in round holes but we’ve brought people in to strengthen us.

“We’re confident we’ve got the guys in to help us climb the league again – hopefully that starts on Saturday.”

Northwich Guardian:

Winsford United boss Lee Duckworth

Blues are currently on a run of six games without a win in all competitions – form that has seen their participation in both the FA Cup and FA Vase ended.

However, they can now focus solely on league matters until their Macron Cup campaign starts on October 19.

Duckworth says they thought about trying to rearrange a league game to avoid having a fortnight off but decided against it.

“Wins have been hard to come by of late, but I think that is a by-product of having so many lads injured. It has killed us a little bit,” he said.

“We thought about trying to bring a league game forward to fill the gap we had on Saturday, but we decided it was a good time to take stock of things and allow lads to get fit again.

“With any luck, we should have most of them back for Saturday.

“If we can get them back, we’ll be in a much stronger position.”

One of the options Duckworth has brought in is striker Brian Matthews, who made his debut in the 2-0 loss to Rylands on September 7.

“I’ve known Brian a long time as I used to play with him, so it was a relatively short conversation,” the Winsford boss said.

“It’s great to have him on board and to have him as an option for us.”