LEE Duckworth, Winsford United’s manager, has said his players have been glad for a breather ahead of a knockout double-header.

Blues played four times in seven days last week, and return to action tomorrow when Litherland REMYCA visit St Luke’s Barton Stadium for a Macron Cup tie.

A visit from Macclesfield follows in the Cheshire FA Senior Cup on Tuesday.

“Some weary legs needed a rest,” said Duckworth.

“It’s given us a chance to take stock of where we are.

“At the same time, we’ve found a bit of form in the league with wins in three of our past four games.

“When you get on a roll, you want to play as often as you can I guess. That said, a pause will have done us good I hope.”

Litherland face Blues for the first time since they joined the North West Counties League two years ago.

They make the trip after winning only one of their past seven games in all competitions, and sit sixth in Division One.

Winsford will still be without leading scorer Nathan Cotterell, who is awaiting a scan on a knee injury.

Brandon Moores is missing too for the same reason.

Blues’ lengthy injury list is starting to shorten, but Duckworth is reluctant to use that as an excuse for an inconsistent campaign so far.

He said: “It means I’ve had to give opportunities to other players, and some of them have taken them.

“Look at Robbie Hatton; he’s only 16, but he had a chance [at Abbey Hey] last Saturday and was superb for us.

“I’m always going to be a glass half-full guy and, while we’ve shown a bit of naivety at times, we’ve also shown that we can match anybody at this level.

“The trick, as every manager will tell you, is to do that consistently.

“It’s true we’ve had bad luck with injuries, particularly when you consider we’ve lost the likes of Nathan [Cotterell] and Danny Hudson – they’re both key figures for us.

“That can be frustrating, but slowly we’re getting guys back available again.”