BRETT Ormerod admits Accrington Stanley saved his career - but still wants them to draw this afternoon’s Lancashire derby clash with Blackpool.

They are the two clubs closest to Great Harwood-born Ormerod’s heart, having rekindled his career as a teenager at the Crown Ground before going on to have two successful spells at Bloomfield Road.

Now 39, and with his boots hung up with a CV that also includes Southampton, Preston, Wrexham and Padiham, he will be in the commentary box for the first ever league meeting between the two sides.

But he says he will remain neutral and is hoping for a share of the spoils in the League Two tussle.

Ormerod netted 32 goals in 54 appearances for Stanley in non-league after he was released following a 10-year apprenticeship at Ewood Park.

He moved to Blackpool for £50,000 in 1997, but is best remembered for his return in 2009 when he grabbed the goal that took them into the top flight via the play-offs and then became the first player to score in all four divisions.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I’m commentating on the match - that will be weird!

“But I’m looking forward to it. It’s two of my old clubs, both massively important in my career, so I’ll be totally neutral and hoping for a draw.”

Ormerod admits the Reds were pivotal in getting him back on track during a dark time following his Rovers departure.

He explained: “I left Rovers after doing my apprenticeship in 1995, the year they won the Premier League.

“I’d just had a double hernia operation and pretty much fell out with football as an 18 year old.

“Stanley offered me to go down and train, I got my confidence back and started enjoying my football. As far as Accrington are concerned, without them I don’t think I’d have done anything in football.

“They picked me up, gave me my confidence back and started me off on the path to a decent career. It’s a club massively close to my heart.”

Ormerod, who retired in January, has seen most thing in football. But he admits it’s still a surprise to see Blackpool in League Two after their dramatic fall from grace, “It’s a mixture of Stanley doing extremely well to get into the Football League and Blackpool coming the other way,” he said.

As for Accrington this season, Ormerod is confident they can have another shot at promotion despite a mixed start to the campaign.

He said: “John Coleman always has his teams playing well.

“They were so unlucky last season and had a bit of a stop-start time of it, but they seem to have got their rhythm a bit.

“On their day Accrington are more than capable of beating anyone in that league, and I honestly believe they’ll be there or thereabouts again come May.”