Town’s second 150 mile round trip to the west coast this week will certainly be a full blooded affair with gaffer Aspin eager to break his Haig Avenue hoodoo against the early pacesetters.

The Sandgrounders are currently top of the Blue Square North with victories over Gainsborough and Blyth Spartans respectively.

Aspin’s men began their campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Vauxhall Motors on Saturday, stand-in captain Darren Dunning grabbing both goals (see page 26 for a full match report).

They followed this with a battling 0-0 draw away at Workington on Tuesday night, ‘keeper Jim Provett the star pulling off a string of magnificent saves including one from the spot to rescue a point for the visitors.

The Town boss was delighted with Provett and his back four for their recent displays but with last year’s goalscoring problems still ringing in his ears the boss is desperate not to have the same headache again.

“We’ve got four forwards at the club and obviously it will be nice if they start chipping in with the goals,” he said.

“The quicker they get off the mark the better because for a confidence point of view that will be good for the team.

“The four we’ve got at the club, I want them all to do well.

“But if we want to be successful this season we need to make sure we score more goals and that’s something we’re looking to do.

“I’m always pleased to get a clean sheet but the one thing we’ve been looking to work on is to score more goals.”

Southport, like Town, have had a busy summer off the pitch after the shock departure of their boss Gary Brabin who flew the nest to Cambridge United.

However with fans favourite Liam Watson now back at the helm The Seasiders look set for a productive Blue Square North season.

“At the moment Southport are the only team in the division who have won both their games,” continued Aspin.

“We always knew at the start of the season Southport would be up and it’s no different this season.

“But it’s a good chance to assess ourselves as a team and see how far we’ve come. It’s a good ground and we like going there.

“We were unlucky there last season and we’ll be going out there looking to build on our recent displays against them.”

On Saturday Town began their new season brightly much to the delight of their manager.

Aspin was particularly impressed with the new central midfield partnership of Michael Roddy and Darren Dunning, the latter walking away with the Hotel du Vin man-of-the match after the game.

“It’s good for Darren having Michael beside him because it means he can go and attack a bit more,” said Aspin.

“Michael will be playing a bit more as the holding player which will give Darren a bit more freedom, something maybe he couldn’t do last year.

“He proved that on Saturday by getting his two goals and he played well.