Daisy Hill will be looking to maintain their recent good run of form in the North West Counties League First Division North when they host Darwen tomorrow in the first fixture of 2025 at the Plumb Factory Stadium (3pm).

Last Saturday’s win against Maghull extended their unbeaten run to four games, and Daisy’s assistant manager, Jack Iley, says the recent upturn in form, with 10 points collected from a possible 12, means the squad is being challenged to hit fresh targets by the end of the season.

“The target at the start of the season was to beat last season’s points total, and we are only a few points away from that now, which is a great place to be with so many games left,” said Iley.

“So we have to sit down and look at that, and give ourselves some new targets that we can hit, and look to finish as high in the league as possible.

“In this league, we know that if you can put a bit of a run together you can really move on, and we are looking now to keep the run going and for a good finish at the end of the season.”

Coincidentally, the recent good form began after a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of this weekend’s opponents Darwen in mid-November, which Iley now believes was a turning point in the team’s season.

“After the Darwen game, we sat down and had a word with the lads about mentality and togetherness, and I think you can see that is something that has changed in recent weeks,” he said.

“Some new lads have come in which has helped, and it feels like evidence of a team building is now growing, and that is what pulls us through tough games like the Maghull game last Saturday.

“I think with the game up at Darwen being so recent, it will be in the lads’ minds where they are thinking they don’t want to get beaten like that again, and this time we will want to be sure we come out on the right side of the result.”

The game in November was also a turning point for Darwen, as it began a sequence of five straight wins for them, but Iley believes Daisy are ready for the challenge.

He added: “Darwen have won five games on the spin and we are in a really good place as well, so you are looking at a game where you have two teams that are in really good form.

“The pitch might give us a small advantage as Darwen are used to playing on a 4G surface and like to keep the ball on the floor and keep it moving.

“They may not get so many opportunities to do that on Saturday, compared to when they are at home, as our pitch will probably be heavy as the weather forecast is not great.

“But we trust our lads to go toe-to-toe with Darwen on any surface and give them a good game.”