WINSFORD United are urging football supporters in the town to get behind the club as the new season kicks off.

Blues play host to Avro at Barton Stadium on Saturday as the North West Counties Premier League campaign begins approximately six weeks later than usual - forced by the coronavirus pandemic.

It will be United’s first home league game since March, when the 2019-20 season came to an abrupt halt due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

All clubs at non-league level have had to battle to make ends meet since, and Blues are among those hoping that supporters come through the doors to have a look at Blues’ new-look side and help boost finances.

Gates open at 1.30pm on Saturday for the 3pm kick-off, with the bar and cafe open and the club meeting Covid-19 regulations set by the Government, FA and league.

Entry is £6 adults, £4 concessions, £1 under 16s.

Middlewich Town, meanwhile, are five games into their new season in the Cheshire League Premier Division.

The Witches bagged their second win when they saw off derby rivals Lostock Gralam 3-1 at home on Saturday.

George Hopkins came off the bench to score two crucial goals in the last 10 minutes, with Oliver McDonough bagging their other effort midway through the first half.

Lostock had Charlie Hatton and Jordan Johnson sent off, while Jack Woolley was their scorer.

Middlewich will be this season’s first opponents for Altrincham Reserves when they hit the road on Saturday.

Winsford Saxons had a disappointing outing against Duddon in the Chester and Wirral League.

“Woeful weekend for us, poor individually and collectively as a team,” was how manager Gary Lee Jamieson explained it.

“We over played in the wrong areas, took too many touches in our half without really applying pressure on Duddon’s backline. Duddon had a way of playing and it worked for them, high balls into the box and it paid dividend as they went 3-0 up inside half an hour.

“However when we did play some football in their half we created two goalscoring opportunities, one fell to in form striker Callum Herbert but Duddon’s goalkeeper made a great save.

“We won a penalty after returning striker Joe Standish rounded the keeper and looked likely to tap into an empty net before the keeper hauled him down and was subsequently sent off. Greg Lumsden stepped up and made the deficit 3-1 at half time.

“We just didn’t capitalise and Duddon won a penalty themselves after Barry Jones fouled their striker for them to make it 4-1.

“We had the majority of the ball in the second half without really breaking them down, which is a major disappointment. We then had captain John Buckley dismissed for a second booking late in the game.

“But we react well when we have setbacks and we aim to set it right against Rossmore Rangers at Knights Grange on Saturday at 2pm.”