In-form Hebburn Town handed warning ahead of Morpeth Town test

Hebburn Town manager Daniel Moore has warned his players they are facing a Morpeth Town side that are showing serious signs of improvement on Tuesday night.

After winning just one of their opening five games of the season, the Highwaymen have taken maximum points from league games against Blyth Spartans and Ashton United over the last fortnight, as well as progression in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, where they will face Moore’s old club Spennymoor Town. The Hornets head into Tuesday’s visit to Craik Park on the back of Saturday’s impressive 5-1 hot win against Bamber Bridge and confidence is high - but Moore has urged his players to prepare for a sizeable test in Northumberland.

He told The Gazette: “There was a bit of a gap between the two teams maybe three or four years ago - but the way the club has been built in the last few years, it’s on the rise.  We are facing another team that are experienced at this level and I had an eye on a few of their players over the last few years.  When you look at the team, they’ve had a lot of change and it may take them time to adapt but you can see, individually, they have some very strong players and it’s almost a new team from two years ago so it can take time.  But you can see from the last couple of results, they’ve kept two clean sheets and they are progressing.  They’ll be confident being at home and they’ll want three points but we will go about our task in the right way.”

Several of Hebburn’s current squad will head back to their former club for the game and the Hornets boss has called on the likes of Michael Turner, Joe Walton and Liam Noble to focus on the result rather than getting wrapped up in any emotions.

He said: “They are all looking forward to it and I’ve just want them to just play the game, not get too emotionally invested in and just play what’s in front of you.  It’s my job to speak to the players before the game and reiterate that message.  They’re with us now, so it’s about doing what is right for our club as we look to get another strong result.”