Bamber Bridge star Rob Apter can teach his boss a few tricks

Brig will head into this weekend’s fixture at Witton Albion refreshed after a fortnight without a game.

It has handed Milligan a chance to get his men on the training ground to work on their game both individually and as a team.

However, the Brig boss – who was a free-kick specialist in his playing days – revealed he may have a man in Apter who can rival his own expertise from dead-ball situations.

The 18-year-old, who is on loan from Blackpool, scored a brilliant 25-yard free-kick in Brig’s last NPL Premier Division outing – a 2-1 win away to Stafford Rangers.

With the team a goal down, Apter stepped forward and curled the ball into the top corner.

It set up another three points for the high-flyers as Sheldon Green then went on to hit the winner.

Milligan said: “In the warm-up before the game, I turned to Rob and said, ‘Look here this is how you take a free-kick’.

“I hit this free-kick it curled, hit the bar and bounced down into the net. During the game, Rob hit an almost identical one but his went straight in.

“He ran over to me and just laughed.

“But he’s a great a lad, a real character and as a player he is something a little bit different.

“What you sometimes get with a lot of these young lads is they just pass, pass. There does not seem to be any of that individuality any more but Rob has got that. He takes people on for fun.”

And Milligan added: “He probably hasn’t got too much to learn off me with free-kicks but I will still give him a few lessons.”

Despite not playing for a fortnight, Brig remain in fourth spot in the table – and they are only four points off the top, although Buxton, who are a point behind leaders Matlock Town, have two games in hand on all of their rivals.

“I don’t really look at the table,” said Milligan. “It’s too early and as cliched as it sounds we have just got to keep focusing on the next game and winning that.

“Then see where that takes you. That’s the only thing you can do. I think if you start to look too far ahead then it can all go a little bit wrong.”

This weekend’s opponents Witton Albion lie in a mid-table spot – 13 points behind Brig.

“They have picked up four wins on their own patch but have lost have five – they are not a bad team are Witton,” said Milligan.

“In Carl Macauley they have got a good manager.

“They have picked up some decent results so far this season and I know it’s going to be a tough game but one we’ll look forward to.”