Hinckley AFC make a long-awaited return to Kirkby Road when they welcome Ingles on Tuesday night looking for a ninth consecutive win.
AFC have spent the first three months of the season playing away after a new artificial surface was laid at the ground.
Now, after months of work, the ground is welcoming football back and Hinckley fans’ first taste of the new pitch is for a county derby on Tuesday night.
And manager Courtney Belford says they’ve been counting down to the return. He said: “We’ve been desperate to get back.
“We want to get back to the sort of numbers through the gate that we saw last season (when the average attendance was 220).
“We’ve done what we can to get people back through the gate. The support on Saturday at Kimberley was unbelievable, the fans were a real 12th man.”
Hinckley will return to Kirkby Road on their best ever run of league form after setting a new club record of eight in a row with Saturday’s dramatic, memorable win at Kimberley Miners Welfare.
Belford called that win “a special day” and says its one of his best memories at the club, but now wants his side to re-focus ahead of another important match.
They’ll now target a ninth against an Ingles side who sit 18th in the table, with 20 points from their 17 games. Their defensive record is the best in the bottom half, though only the bottom three have scored fewer. 15 of those goals have come through leading marksman Billy Clarke.
They’ve taken points off Aylestone Park and Harrowby United this season as well as beating St Andrews. They were on a run of four consecutive wins before recent back-to-back defeats.
Adults: £6
Concessions: £4
Under 16s: £2 (FREE with HAFC Junior membership card)
