Lancaster City looking for Trophy tonic: Dolly Blues take on Atherton Collieries in the LFA Challenge Trophy semi-final

That is the view of boss Mark Fell, who is hoping to see his men progress through to the final of the LFA Challenge Trophy by making a welcome return to winning ways.

The Dolly Blues take on Atherton Collieries on Wednesday night at the County Ground, Leyland, (7.45pm kick-off) still smarting from defeats by Whitby Town, Hyde United and most recently Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday.

Those three results have put a huge dent in their NPL Premier Division hopes and they have slipped outside of the top five.

If Lancaster are to rescue their promotion bid they need to arrest their current slump in form and Fell has urged his men to rekindle that winning feeling.

Should they get the victory tonight, not only will it put their season back on track heading into the final run-in in the league, but it will also put them just one win away from claiming some silverware.

The reward for the winners tonight is a final appearance against Bamber Bridge.

“It’s a game we want to win,” said Fell. “In many respects the pressure comes off a little bit.

“It’s a cup a game and it could helps us come out of this little wobble we are having in the league

“We will be fielding a full-strength team. David Norris’ suspension only covers league games so he comes back into contention.

“Matty Blinkhorn comes back in and Jack Armer also comes back in after pulling out very late on Saturday through illness.

“I think from a neutral perspective, a Bamber Bridge versus Lancaster City final has a bit more spice to it – and we want to try to give people what they want.

“We want to try to get to the final but it’s two good teams who will play the right way.

“They have beaten us once this season although how we got beaten by them on New Year’s Day I will never know.

“We were outstanding in the first 45 minutes and should have been 4-0 up.

“We came off the gas second half – hopefully we will have learned from that.”