Fylde won't relish Victory Park visit

The Magpies claimed three points and bragging rights for six days at least by spoiling Fylde’s sell-out occasion at Mill Farm on Boxing Day.

Boss Matt Jansen said “We took the game to Fylde on Monday and destroyed them.

“I am absolutely buzzing with that performance.

“I think the first 10/15 minutes, we weathered what they threw at us.

“We then got into the game and for me we were the better side.

“Obviously, getting the early goal second half (to make it 2-0) they were going to throw everything at us.

“They had four/five up front towards the end and were throwing balls into the box, but we weathered that too.

“Yet another clean sheet, which shows how strong we are.

“I was so proud of the lads – they were absolutely brilliant.”

Jansen – whose team moved to within six points of the Coasters at the top of the National League – believes the Dave Challinor’s men will not relish facing the Magpies once again on New Year’s Day – this time on home turf.

A crowd of nearly 4,000 – a record attendance for Fylde’s new ground Mill Farm – watched the match with more than a quarter of that made up of visiting supporters.

They certainly made their voices heard on Monday and Jansen expects them to do the same on Sunday in what should be another four-figure attendance.

“They won’t relish coming to our place, but we will,” Jansen added.

“We are looking forward to it and if the fans do exactly like they did on Monday, we will be a very difficult team to beat.”

Meanwhile, Jansen has bolstered his squad with the acquisition of former Manchester United and Burnley youth team player John Cofie.

The striker has joined from Southport and will go straight into the squad for Sunday.

At Old Trafford he played in the same youth sides as Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison, and represented England at under 17 level on three occasions,

However, he failed to make the grade with The Red Devils and following loan spells with Royal Antwerp, Sheffield United and Notts County he went on to sign for Barnsley, Molde (Norway), Crawley Town, Wrexham and AFC Telford United.

He trained briefly at Victory Park in the summer before opting to join National League side Southport.

Meanwhile, Coasters’ boss Dave Challinor is treating Sunday’s derby clash as just another game.

“It is not a question of us having some kind of unfinished business against Chorley,” he said. “It is an opportunity to pick up more points to get closer to the target that we have set for ourselves for the rest of the season.

“I was not surprised by them at all. They worked hard, got men behind the ball, were well organised and knew their job and so we will know what they will be all about when they play them again.

One doubtful starter for Fylde is former Chorley striker Darren Stephenson, who is on loan from Tranmere Rovers. He has been nursing an ankle injury.

Chorley say that Sunday’s match is not all ticket, but they are strongly advising fans to buy tickets in advance to speed up admission on the day.