TOMORROW'S opponents Nelson might fancifully call their home 'Little Wembley,' but any thoughts of the National Stadium will be far from the minds of Holker Old Boys when they travel there on Saturday.

Kevin Watkin's men are fully focussed on trying to get back to winning ways after Saturday's sobering 8-2 defeat at AFC Liverpool which put the dampers on the Stags' excellent start to their North West Counties League Division One North campaign.

They never recovered from going three goals down in the first 16 minutes and despite Gareth Smith pulling a goal back on 26 minutes, Holker were 5-1 down by the hour mark and though Tom Dawson pulled one back, AFC bagged three more in later stages to end the game convincing winners.

But they have a great chance to get back to winning ways at Nelson, and Watkin's outfit have an extra incentive to do so as the lowly Lancashire outfit have twice blunted the Holker challenge in recent weeks.

Early last month, Nelson inflicted a 4-1 defeat on the Stags in a Lancashire Challenge Trophy tie, Sam Joel's strike proving insufficient to stop his side slipping out of the competition at the first time of asking.

And to compound that, the Admirals sailed up to Rakesmoor Lane less than two weeks ago and snatched a 1-1 draw, with Joel again on the mark for the Stags.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the home side and Holker chairman Maurice Watkin admitted the team were not at their best.

But he said despite that result and the subsequent heavy reverse on Merseyside last week, morale remained good and there was a great spirit both in the squad and in the club as a whole.

"Things are going very well at the club at the moment," said the Stags chairman.

"Kevin has settled into the role well and he has been getting some good support from Paul Southward and Glyn Dixon so we have a good coaching team.

"There's a good spirit at the club at the moment on and off the field and we have been getting good numbers down at training which is always a sign that things are going well.

"We are happy with the position the club is in at present.

"We are still in a good position in the table and we just hope we can keep things going."

Mr Watkin conceded that it was frustrating that on a day when near neighbours Barrow AFC have a blank date and the Stags might have expected a few more fans through the turnstiles, they are out of the area.

However, they hope for a decent turnout when they return to Rakesmoor Lane next Saturday, November 16, when they host Prestwich Heys in a league game.