Whitchurch Alport manager Luke Goddard is calling on the club’s supporters to come down to the KMJ Mortgages Stadium this Saturday as Alport take on St Martins in a friendly.

Goddard hopes to kill two birds with one stone by hosting their Shropshire counterparts, and is hoping that even though the game is just a festive friendly, the club’s loyal fans will be up for the occasion.

He says that although the league situation is less than ideal, getting together on Saturday will help foster a sense of normality for both clubs following a lockdown enforced break to the North West Counties League season.

“It is anything but ideal at the moment but it’s a good opportunity to get people together to do what used to come naturally every Saturday afternoon,” he said.

“Although the players have had their own individual fitness regimes during the second lockdown, that’s a long way from actual game time so we are grateful to St Martins for agreeing to come down.”

The Alport boss knows full well that the stop-start season may well flicker back into life within the next 10 days.

“It’s not just a chance for the fans to come into the ground but get our lads used to playing again,” he added.

“We will start training tomorrow and then get 90 minutes in on Saturday because things might change very quickly soon and we will need to be ready.

“All the teams are in the same boat and if we do get going again this side of Christmas there will be plenty of leg weary footballers out there and that’s just the way it is.

“My feelings on it have been well documented and they are unlikely to change.”

Next week the Government will review its current tier system and if that allows the vast majority of NWCFL teams to host matches that will see spectators permitted to attend, the season may well resume on December 19.

The Reds have back to back games on home soil – they are due to entertain Skelmersdale United at Yockings Park ahead of a Boxing Day clash at home to Hanley Town.