Bamber Bridge looking to maintain excellent unbeaten record

After losing their opening NPL Premier Division fixture of the season at Buxton, Brig have gone on a tear, winning five and drawing two of their next seven games in all competitions.

On Saturday, they progressed to the second qualifying round of the FA Cup after a superb second-half performance put paid to Northern League outfit West Allotment Celtic 7-2.

Then on Tuesday, they battled to a 1-1 draw to a strong Radcliffe outfit at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium.

Their fine run means they have an FA Cup clash against Runcorn Linnets to look forward to on Saturday week and are placed handily in fourth spot in the table.

With trips to Scarborough Athletic tomorrow and FC United on Tuesday to come, Milligan is hoping the excellent unbeaten run can continue.

“It’s good to have a good run in the FA Cup because financially it helps the club out massively,” said Milligan.

“I thought first half against West Allotment wasn’t great from our point of view. We got an early goal but then just stopped playing, the tempo dropped completely.

“I got them in at half-time and we changed completely in the second half, scored six times and won comfortably.

“In the Radcliffe game, we started well again. We scored an early goal and then we missed a one-on-one at 1-0 .

“They then came into it, scored an equaliser and I thought they were a very good team – one of the better sides we have played so far this season. They were physically strong, good at what they do and got a couple of good players up top.

“They have not had the best of starts but I know their manager Lee Fowler really well and he was saying that he feels they are in a false position and they have been a bit unlucky so far.

“I can understand what he means because at the end, I was happy to take a point out of it.”

This weekend’s opponents Scarborough are just below Brig in the table having lost just one of their opening six league games.

They will be slightly fresher as well after their scheduled midweek clash at Buxton was postponed.

“I have always found Scarborough a tough place to go from when I’ve played there in the past and managed there,” Milligan said.

“But I see no reason why we can’t go there and get a result. I don’t think there are too many teams in this division where we will go to and we will have to change the way we play.

“We need to go there and be confident and we should be confident because at the end of the day we are on a really good run. We are fourth in the table for a reason.”

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