MATT Barnes believes his Barnoldswick Town side will have to fight for everything they can this season to keep proving the doubters wrong.

Barlick are fifth in the Hallmark Security Premier Division ahead of tonight’s clash at West Didsbury & Chorlton, having beaten Ashton Athletic 2-1 at the weekend thanks to a Zack Dale double.

While Barnes’ side are surrounded by the likes of City of Liverpool, Runcorn Town and Northwich Victoria, he believes that is where they deserve to be, even if others might not see it that way.

“If we win tonight and results go our way we could be in a really good position going into the weekend,” Barnes said.

“I’m pleased with how it’s going but it’s important to stay grounded, we can’t get over confident with how we’re doing.

“We’ve got to remember we are little Barnoldswick Town and we’ve got a lot to prove, things won’t just be given to us. I think some people might think we’re punching above our weight, but I don’t think we are.”

Dale’s double eventually got the better of Ashton Athletic at the weekend, with the visitors putting up a strong fight despite coming into the game bottom of the league.

“It was hard fought, which we knew it would be, even though they were bottom of the league they had a lot to represent with their secretary dying in midweek so we knew it was going to be tough and they’d be at the peak of their game,” Barnes added.

“We could have had a couple in the first half, but they kept coming back at us and made it really difficult.

“It shows how tough this league is, they shouldn’t be in the bottom two, at the moment they’re not picking up points but I think they’ll be in mid-table at the end of the season.

“Zack got two, one was more or less gifted it to him that was probably harder to miss. We had to work hard for the goals, but it shows we can win ugly as well as winning well at times.

“Zack is doing well, which is expected with his pedigree from last year and he’s just carried it on. We know we’ll get goals out of him and hopefully others can chip in as well.”

West Didsbury & Chorlton were Barnes’ local rivals when he was in charge at Maine Road last season and he’s looking for bragging rights over rival manager Steve Settle.

“It will be a tough game, Steve sets up his teams to be disciplined, they can play quite high which could be a good thing for us,” he said.

“I won one and lost one while at Maine Road, it’s one all between me and Sets at the moment, hopefully I can come out on top.”

Elsewhere, Padiham are on the road at Charnock Richard while in the Evo-Stik West, Colne entertain Mossley while bottom of the table Clitheroe visit Glossop North End.