Lancaster City camp prepares for a crucial stage of the season

The Dolly Blues are set to host Bamber Bridge on Boxing Day; their first game in almost three-and-a-half weeks since the loss to Marine on December 3.

That ended a four-game winning run in the NPL Premier, which sees Fell’s players in 14th position.

While they are only two points clear of the drop zone and nine adrift of the play-offs, they have games in hand on most of the teams above them.

After facing Bamber Bridge, City then meet an Atherton Collieries team one place above them in the table, followed by matches against clubs in the bottom four.

Fell said: “We lost against Marine but we had won the four league games before that.

“If you look at the next few games, we’re saying what an amazing opportunity we have.

“We have two games in hand on Bamber Bridge, so if we can get nine points, we would be in and among the play-off chasers.

“We play a few teams below us like Stalybridge Celtic and Liversedge at their place, who have the worst home record in the league (one win and 10 defeats in 11 games).

“We’re saying that if we have an opportunity (to target the play-offs), then it has to be now.

“We can’t afford only two wins out of the next five and expect to make a late run for the play-offs.

“We’ve got some momentum and we’ve got almost everyone back to fitness, so it’s probably been a bit of a good break for us in that sense.”

The only confirmed absentee is Jake Connelly, who faces time on the sidelines early in 2023.

“Jake needs a groin operation,” the manager explained.

“We were hopeful it would be Friday this week but it’s been pushed back to the New Year, so he will be out for four to six weeks.

“However, everyone else who has been out for a long time – guys like Charlie Bailey and Andrew Teague – are now back and available for selection.”