Derby rivals get set to battle for place in Lancashire Challenge Trophy semi-final

​The two derby rivals meet for a mouth-watering quarter-final tie in the LFA Challenge Trophy at Giant Axe.

The Dolly Blues are still smarting from the defeat they suffered at the hands of Brig on Boxing Day in the NPL Premier Division at Irongate.

Despite arguably having the better of the 90 minutes, City were beaten 2-1 courtesy of a stoppage time winner from Jack Baxter.

The loss so late on was certainly a bitter pill to swallow for Lancaster and Milligan admitted his men were very fortunate to come away with all three points.

The Brig boss was surprised to see City lose 4-0 at the weekend to Hyde United, especially as they had beaten Macclesfield on their own patch and had lost narrowly to runaway league leaders Radcliffe earlier this month.

Brig themselves will be looking for a boost after Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Guiseley snapped a run of 11 points from 15 previously.

"The Trophy game is going to be a really tough one because they are a good team,” said Milligan.

"They went to Macclesfield and beat them and gave Radcliffe a really good game – they maybe should have nicked a point.

"We know how good they can be and we know how tough they are to beat so it’s going to be a tough game for us.”

Out of the eight teams left in the competition, only Southport are higher-placed in the non-league football pyramid than both Brig and City.

However, they are on the other side of the draw and North West Counties outfit Padiham await in the last four after they defeated Longridge Town 2-0 last week.

Milligan knows it’s a great opportunity for either team to reach a final and potentially pick up some silverware.

"It’s massive game for both teams,” he said. “With the teams who are left in it, whoever wins this tie has got a really good chance of getting through to the final.”