FC Halifax Town: "Our lads will be keen to go out and prove themselves" says Bradford Park Avenue boss Bower

Bower scored one goal in 48 appearances for Halifax during the 2010-11 season, in which he captained the club to promotion from the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

The former Guiseley boss is in his second spell as Park Avenue boss, returning in October 2019, and has another ex-Halifax player, Ryan Toulson, as first-team coach.

Park Avenue have struggled in the National League North so far this season, but Bower feels his team will relish the chance to test themselves against The Shaymen.

"There'll be no fear, our lads will be keen to go out and prove themselves," he said.

"We've sold a few players over the past couple of seasons, young players who have stepped up, and that's a big part of how we manage to get younger players in, is that platform to go and try to earn a full-time career in the game.

"Lads that play well against good National League opposition are putting themselves in the shop window. That's what we want.

"I'm sure those lads will be keen, and the lads who have been there and done it will want to prove that they can still compete with National league teams.

"Everyone will be looking forward to it, it's a bit of a free-hit for us in that no-one will be expecting us to win, but we'll put pressure ourselves to perform as well as we can, and if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance."

Bower said the chance to face Halifax was an incentive for his side in getting through the last round against Marine, who they beat on penalties.

"We did speak about it before the game saying it's a great game for us, local derby at home, just before Christmas, chance for our younger players to test themselves against higher level opposition," he said.

"It was a good incentive for us. We got the job done in the end but we were really depleted in that game, but we came through and we're looking forward to it.

"We're not in a position we'd want to be in the league, everyone wants to be higher up than where we are.

"But we know what we are now. We're very much about stabilising the club and getting it running on a sustainable basis.

"The 3G's gone down, the academy's growing, and in the mean time, the job is to try and maintain our status in this division.

"We've competed well and done alright in a lot of games, we just probably lack what teams that are towards the bottom of the table lack, which is that prolific goalscorer, someone that's going to win you a game from nothing.

"Performances have generally been good, but you always want a bit more."

Despite their poor league form, Bower says Saturday's game is no unwelcome distraction.

"The income we'll generate from a decent crowd, prize money from the last round and potential prize money again, it's massive to us, it makes such a big difference to us in terms of being able to get one or two bodies in to help us out," he said.

"So it's important we try and get results, get wins. If we can get through the Halifax game it would give everyone a really big lift going into the Christmas fixtures.

"We'll just treat it like the next game, prepare for it like we would any league game, we'll do our homework.

"I'm not sure how Halifax will approach the game, whether they'll go full strength or be a bit wary of the 3G pitch or a busy Christmas period coming up, but we'll do our best we can to prepare for it.

"We've competed well over some of the better teams in the past couple of seasons on our pitch, so hopefully we can do the same."

On his former club Halifax, Bower said: "They're doing really, really well.

"I think they've raised expectations and when they have a little setback it seems like a disaster.

"On the whole, they've been really good.

"For them just to miss out on the play-offs last year when you consider all the money that's flying around in that league, and the big clubs, they did really well.

"Obviously they're in and amongst it again this season with some really eye-catching results, so it'll be a really hard one.

"But we've got quite a few young lads in and around our squad that want to progress and a test against one of the best teams in the National League will be really good for them."

Bower says recent illnesses and injuries in his squad have cleared up now, and expects his squad to be stronger than it has been in recent weeks.

"I think we've got to make sure we stay in the game as long as we can, make sure we don't give early goals away and leave ourselves a mountain to climb," he said.

"We've done that too often this season, going behind in games, and whilst we've done really well coming back on quite a few occasions, we can't do that against the better teams.

"So we'll definitely look to keep it tight, obviously playing on the 3G is something that we'll be more used to than the Halifax lads, so we'll be utilising that.

"But ultimately, we'll try and get on the ball and create chances. We've created quite a lot of chances this year but just not converted as many as we should, so if we can tidy up in-front of goal, I'm confident we can create chances, and if we do that, we give ourselves a chance.

"We've got a good mix of experience and youth, we like to play on the front-foot.

"We won't stand off and let Halifax play, we'll look to put them under pressure."

Bower is hoping for a thousand-plus crowd on Saturday.

"You'd like to think so wouldn't you," he said.

"I remember the year I was at Halifax, the away followings were outstanding.

"Now they're in the National League there's probably fewer local games for the fans to go and follow, so hopefully the weather holds off and it's certainly better surroundings now at Horsfall than the last time Halifax came.

"There are better facilities now, which are continuing to improve. You can get right next to the pitch now with the fence we've got round it, so you're not stood the other side of a running track.

"If we get a half-decent weather day hopefully there'll be plenty that come down and watch the game, and hopefully our lads will thrive on a better atmosphere and put in a good performance."

Former Halifax midfielder Jake Hibbs is amongst the ranks at Park Avenue, but is not expected to be back in action until next season after breaking his leg in August.

"He had a bit of an infection in the steel rods that went in his legs, so he's still immobile at the moment," Bower said.

"It's been awful for him, it's taken a lot longer than it should have.

"But his spirits are still up. His partner's had a baby so he's got his hands full.

"I know once he can get up and about more that he's looking forward to getting down and watching a game.

"It's such a shame because I'm sure he'd have loved to have played in this one."

Follow all the action from the game on Saturday on our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post match reaction from Pete Wild.