Bootle manager Steve McNulty says they are aware of the threat and quality that Workington possesses but remain confident.
The Bucks continued their surge up the table with a commanding 2-0 win over 1874 Northwich last weekend. Jack McGowan made sure that the hosts’ pressure paid off on the stroke of half-time before Nivaldo slotted in the winner in added time to secure the points.
Their win moved them up to ninth as the resurgent run continued. 1874 became the latest casualty in their unbeaten run which stretched to five matches and three consecutive wins.
This weekend is the longest away trip of the season as they travel to last seasons beaten playoff semi-finalists, Workington.
The Reds scraped a win on Bootle’s patch in the reverse fixture as they were reduced to 10 men when Simon Wills was sent-offf during the early stages of McNulty’s tenure at Vesty Road.
After the recent run, they sit sixth in the form guide and as a result, confidence is high among the Bucks. For the Bootle boss, he wants to ensure that the travelling fans have a positive tripp to Cumbria.
He told Off The Park: “It’s going to be a big game, tough game, confidence is high but they’re flying high. We played them not long into my reign, I thought we done great, had a man sent off late on, contained them, we created chances against them.
“It’s another game, one we’ve got to prepare for, one which we’ll be going into full of confidence, we’re on a good winning run at the moment and we want to keep it going.
“We want to put in a good performance for the travelling supporters and pick up some more points to climb the table.
“We do our due diligence and look at past games but we’ve got to worry about ourselves, we can’t be worrying about what Workington are going to turn up.
“At the end of the day, they’re third in the league, they’ve got a really good side, a good manager, it’ll be a tough game but you look at results throughout the season all year and bottom have been top, results are all over the place, I keep saying it but the league will settle down after Christmas.
“We’re under no illusions it’s going to be a tough game for us but one that we’ll be going into with confidence and looking to get three points.
“We went toe-to-toe Macclesfield, teams have sat down, didn’t want to press them and have all of the ball, we come with a gameplan and it worked,” he continued. “We’ll have a look at what we need to work on for Workington, they’re a really good side but we will have a gameplan that we will put in place.
“We’ve got to worry about ourselves and not about the opposition, we’ll give them the respect they deserve, they’re up there in the league but we’re more worried about executing our gameplan, making sure we turn up on the day and give a good account of ourselves.”
McNulty handed over interview duties to his assistant Carl Macauley in the aftermath of their win at the weekend.
“I said to the lads, a week before we didn’t really create any chances against Skem and probably lucky to win the game – a draw was a fair result. Against 1874, if we would’ve come in at half-time three or four up, I don’t think anyone could’ve had any complaints with the chances we had and missed,” he said.
“I said to the lads at half-time, I’d be more worried if it was like the Skem game where we weren’t getting in them positions, but we are and we’re creating chances which is a massive positive. We got one late on to seal the game, it was a good performances and we created plenty of chances.”
Last week, they welcomed two experienced faces as striker Andy Owens and goalkeeper Josh Orellenshaw were unveiled as their latest signings.
Speaking on their arrival, he said: “I spoke to Andy not long after I first got the job, he’s a physical presence, got him on dual-reg from Chorley.
“They bring a wealth of experience which is what we want, they’re going to be good for the squad, we look at players, we want to bring the right people in at the right time, we think them two have an experience at higher levels which will help the lads we’ve got. I think they’ll improve the team and improve the dressing room.”
