Coasters’ cup challenge

Action from Matlock v AFC Fylde on Saturday

Having completed 40 per cent of their Evo-Stik Northern Premier fixtures before the season is three months old, Fylde on Tuesday begin a sequence of three cup games in eight days. The first two are away to Greater Manchester clubs in the second tier of the Evo-Stik League.

They visit Mossley United in the first round of the Doodson Sports Cup (the former NPL Challenge Cup) on Tuesday evening (7.35pm) and then head to Curzon Ashton in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy on Saturday.

It’s perhaps not the perfect time for manager Dave Challinor to be breaking off from their league promotion bid.

One point from the last two games has left Fylde five points behind leaders and local rivals Chorley, having played a game more.

But Challinor is just soldiering on. He told The Gazette “Players would always rather play than train.

“It’s a demanding programme but we just get on with it. It’s better to have congestion now than at the end of the season when the stakes are highest.”