Chorley boss Jamie Vermiglion wants to pile pressure on rivals Stockport and Spennymoor at the top

Jamie Vermiglio says his Chorley men are in a confident mood as they aim to stretch their lead at the top of the National League North table and pile the pressure on ‘favourites’ Stockport County.
Jamie Vermiglio (photo: Stefan Willoughby)Jamie Vermiglio (photo: Stefan Willoughby)
Jamie Vermiglio (photo: Stefan Willoughby)

The Magpies welcome Leamington to Victory Parktomorrow boosted by a midweek slip by one of their other title rivals Spennymoor Town.

The Moors lost 2-0 to Bradford Park Avenue on Tuesday and remain 10 points adrift with just the one game in hand.

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Stockport, meanwhile, are in FA Trophy semi-final action this weekend. Jim Gannon’s side held National League promotion chasers AFC Fylde to a 0-0 draw at Mill Farm in the first leg last weekend.

Josh O'Keefe is back this weekend (photo: Stefan Willoughby)Josh O'Keefe is back this weekend (photo: Stefan Willoughby)
Josh O'Keefe is back this weekend (photo: Stefan Willoughby)

That enabled the Magpies to extend their lead at the top of the table to four points thanks to a 2-0 win at Boston United.

Tomorrow Chorley are aiming to make it a seven-point cushion and pile the pressure on County, who will have two games in hand.

And with seven games to go, Vermiglio will hope to hang on to the top spot they have held for the majority of the season.

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He said: “From the outside looking in, Stockport should win this league with the budget they have got, the support they have got, the backing of the club, the stature, where they have been in the past.

“If they don’t win the league or get promoted, for them that will be an underachievement.

“When you look at it like that the pressure really is on them. We do not feel any pressure.

“But having said that you do not sit top of the league all season and then be happy with second spot or the play-offs – absolutely not.

“We want to maintain that top spot, win the league.

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“That has been the objective from day one and if we do not win the league then it will be a disappointment.

“I’m not feeling the pressure. You want to win every game but the pressure is the same at three games in.

“The only difference is that we are top of the league and we are there to be knocked off. Every single team just raises it a little bit for us.

“We have players who have been here before. We’ve battled it out with Hereford at the start, Bradford Park Avenue in the middle and now it’s 
Spennymoor and Stockport County.

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“We’ve been top and then if we have gone second we have fought back.

“I think that will stand us in good stead.

“We’ve got an opportunity to pull away a bit on Saturday and pile the pressure on Stockport and the surrounding teams.

“But we have got to take our chance. Points are not given to us, we have to earn them.

Midfielder Alex Newby was sent off at Boston and will start the first of his three-match ban for violent conduct this weekend,

But Josh O’Keefe is back in contention having missed the last two games due to a suspension for 10 yellow cards.