Chorley looking to move back into a play-off position with victory over Spennymoor Town

​Tonight's match has been re-arranged after it was abandoned last month with the Magpies leading 1-0 in the second half.

It’s another added game to Chorley’s already congested fixture list which has been compounded by the fact that their squad is stretched to the limit.

They only had two senior players on the substitutes’ bench on Saturday due to injury and illness as they saw their interest in the FA Trophy end at the fifth round stage, slipping to a 3-1 defeat at home to Solihull Moors.

It was a brave performance against The Moors who are battling for promotion to the Football League in the division above.

In the end, costly mistakes gave Andy Preece's men a mountain to climb as they trailed 3-0 at the break.

Mark Ellis header after the break was a mere consolation but Preece insisted his men can feel proud of the way they played.

"No way should we have been 3-0 down at half-time,” he said. “You get in at half-time, 3-0 down to a team a division above you, then it’s all about character because it could get ugly.

"I thought second half, we had a right go and the keeper’s made some great saves.

"We said if we could get that next goal, you just never know but it just wouldn’t go in and by the time we got the goal, it was too late.”

Pop band and potential new club investors Boyzone were in the stands to watch Trophy clash and may well be in attendance tonight as the Magpies looks to move back into the play-off positions.

Their FA Trophy commitments saw them slip out of the top seven at the weekend, but they are only four points behind third-placed Chester with several games in hand on all of the teams above them.

Spennymoor have not been in the best of form but picked up their first win of 2024 against Southport last Tuesday and will be feeling fresh after having no game at the weekend.

"We can take the momentum of the second half performance from Saturday into the Spennymoor game,” said Preece, who is keen to bolster his squad with new signings.

"It’s going to be a tough game, they had a good win over Southport which broke their streak of not winning.”