Burscough manager Paul Bowes is looking for a reaction after his side were comfortably beaten by Squires Gate at the end of 2021.
Joshua Westwood and Daniel Gray scored the all-important goals as Linnets’ winning run came to a disappointing end.
They face the prospect of Paul McNally’s Skelmersdale United next as both sides return to winning ways.
Burscough’s rivals suffered a 3-2 defeat to Winsford United last time out and saw their title ambitions dented as they failed to make ground on Macclesfield.
Bowes won’t be in attendance for the trip to JMO Sports Park but looks for a response from his side after their ‘awful’ display at the end of December.
“The whole application from start to finish for the players, we looked lethargic, we didn’t get out of second gear, we looked awful from front to back, one to 17 we were awful there was no excuses for it,” he told Off The Park.
“We looked tired, we looked like it was a step too far to be pushing games in Christmas. We were meant to have a break, it might’ve done us good but no excuses, we go again they played well, a good side, top lads in the middle, brilliant, brilliant centre back, very experienced groups, they set up to frustrate us and it worked.
“The lads need to be working harder for seconds balls [against Skem], don’t think we got behind Squires Gate once, think we only had one shot on target all game.
“The lads need to apply themselves and play how they have been playing against Wythenshawe, Congleton previous where they can get the ball down and play, win second balls, headers, tackles and have strike’s on goal then at the other end stay tight don’t give away silly goals or give away easy chances.
“[It’s a] Massive test, these are a top, top side, Macca [Paul McNally] is a brilliant manager. They’ve got experienced, top players, it’s a big test for us shows us exactly where we are.
“They’re having the season they deserve, the FA Cup run last year sort of deflected how good they were in the league it finished early so they couldn’t show how good they could be, think it was a matter of time before Macca got them playing, doing as much damage as they are, all credit to him he’s a top bloke.
“But Saturday, we’ve got to go there and frustrate them. Not many teams have managed that but we’ve got in our locker, we can go there battle hard and we can score a couple of goals and keep them out at the other end.
“They’ve got something to prove; Macca won’t have been happy especially the way they were defeated. Hopefully our lads can take that as a bit of motivation and we can do the same damage to them, we’ll see Saturday will show.”
