Southport have the chance to win a third straight home match this weekend when they welcome Stockport County to the Merseyrail Community Stadium.

The task ahead is tough – County have not lost since December 2 and have already handed Southport two heavy defeats this season, in both the league and the Buildbase FA Trophy.

However, there is a new wave of optimism sweeping through the club following a strong start to 2018 both on the pitch and with the new additions off it.

The win against Leamington was full of positives; another clean sheet, Jason Gilchrist’s return to the scoresheet, the exciting performances of Dion Charles and Adam Dawson on their first starts for the club and ultimately leapfrogging their opposition into 16th place in the league.

It is therefore hard not to feel some sense of anticipation ahead of what is a stern challenge this weekend.

New signing Elliot Osborne was ineligible to play against Leamington having signed too late to register in time.

There will be no such issue this weekend, however considering the way the Davids, Morgan and Lynch, have been playing of late, it will be intriguing to see if the new midfielder will be given a chance straight away.

By Christy Byrne