KENDAL Town boss Steve Edmondson hopes his team can spring a surprise on NPL North West Division leaders Workington when the Reds visit the St & B Accountants Stadium for a Cumbrian derby this weekend.

Second-bottom Town are five points clear from the final relegation place and head into the fixture against the top-of-the-table West Cumbrians in improved form having taken seven points from their last four games.

And despite conceding that the visitors will be heavy favourites to take all three points from Saturday’s clash (3pm kick-off), Edmondson remains hopeful that his players can send their county rivals home disappointed to have dropped points in their title bid.

He said: “You go into every game hoping you’re going to get something out of it but we know Workington are a very good side and they’ll be odds-on favourites to beat us.

“But we have come into some good form recently and football sometimes can kick you in the teeth so hopefully we can cause a few problems on the day for them.

“We’re quite healthy at the moment thankfully but it’s a pity our game was called off at the weekend because we have been in better form and you want to keep that momentum going.”

Kendal have already faced Workington twice this season, losing 5-0 at Borough Park in league action on September 10 and going down 6-1 at the same ground the following week in the Integro League Cup.

Edmondson knows his team will have to put in a much-improved display if they are to get a result against Reds this time but feels the pressure will be on the travellers to perform in front of what is expected to be a sizeable away following of around 200 supporters.

“One thing is for sure; we will be hoping to put in a lot better performance than we did earlier in the season but this is a different Kendal team to the one they faced back then,” he added.

“It is a derby game so I’m sure Danny [Grainger, Reds’ boss] will have them playing a high-tempo game and there’ll be some hard tackles flying in which you expect in these fixtures.

“I’m sure there will be a couple of hundred coming from Workington, plus our 150 to 200 fans so there should be a good crowd and hopefully both teams will put on a show for them.”

Workington also come into the game in form, having returned to the top of the table in midweek with a 4-0 win at Droylsden which was their third league win and clean sheet in a row.

They boast a couple of former Town players in their ranks in Matty Clarke and Brad Carroll, while Kendal’s Kieran Maguire is an ex-Red.

It doesn’t get any easier for Edmondson’s squad in the coming weeks, with a trip to second-top Ramsbottom United on February 29 before they go to promotion-chasing Marske United on March 3 and entertain the Rams on March 7.