Saturday’s match is sponsored by Austhorpe Signs

By Tom Swallow

Prior to the meeting with Hyde, there will be a pitch inspection on Saturday morning.

Guiseley manager Mark Bower is confident in his team’s ability to bounce back against Hyde following their 5-1 defeat to Boston United last week.

The Lions boss said he was “embarrassed” by his side’s performance at the Jakeman’s Stadium last weekend but remains hopeful of getting back to winning ways against the Vanarama Conference North’s bottom side on Saturday.

“The important thing now is we’ve got a game at home, one that people will expect us to win and we’ve got to meet people’s expectations,”said Bower, who is likely to be without Ben Parker, Andy Holdsworth and Oli Johnson due to injuries.

“Ben took a whack on his ankle, it’s quite sore and so that’s obviously a big blow for us. Oli Johnson has been struggling recently, he’s one we’ve got to manage as he’s been feeling a hip and hamstring type injury over the last few weeks.

“It’s progressed to the point where he hasn’t been able to train for quite a while.”

Speaking to the local press this week, Bower has been keen to stress his side will not take Hyde lightly – with the Tigers having picked up of late following the return of Gary Lowe to Ewen Fields.

While Lowe’s men have lost their last four games in all competitions, they did manage to earn a point against second-place Barrow earlier this month courtesy of a stunning 4-4 draw.

The Tigers’ main attacking threat will likely be striker Tom Bentham, who has eight league goals so far this season, while the Lions’ top goal scorer Adam Boyes is back after serving a three-match suspension.

“I’ve got confidence in the players, in the ability they’ve got and the character they’ve got,” Bower added.