WARRINGTON Town have gone through the vast majority of their season so far without the services of a recognised striker.

Like London buses, however, two have become available at once.

An ankle injury suffered on the opening day of the season has limited Jordan Buckley to just three brief substitute appearances, while a combination of suspension and a knee problem means skipper Josh Amis is yet to feature in the National League North thus far.

However, Mark Beesley looks set to have both frontmen at his disposal when old rivals South Shields visit Cantilever Park tomorrow.

Amis did complete 90 minutes in last week’s Cheshire Senior Cup win at Cammell Laird while Buckley returned from the bench during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Alfreton Town, and Beesley insists he will be particularly cautious with his use of the latter as he returns from his latest setback.

“Isaac (Buckley-Ricketts) and Connor (Woods) have played up there and have done well, but having Jordan back and hopefully Josh this week gives us the option of a little more power and pace in that area,” the Town boss said.

“They’re good at getting hold of the ball and that helps us out massively. It makes us more of a threat, which is what we need to be better at.

“We’ve got to be careful with Jordan because the poor lad’s had a wretched run with injuries.

“He came back flying in the summer but we couldn’t legislate for what happened to him at Southport with a lad falling on his ankle.

“It’s affected him a lot longer than we thought, but he’s back now.

“He’s looking fit and strong, but we’ll be careful with him because we want a fit Jordan Buckley now for the rest of the season.

“We’ll dip him in and out and make sure he’s fresh because when he’s on his game, we know he’s a big asset for us.”

Tomorrow's game will be a poetic moment for both clubs, who became competitive rivals over several years of trying to earn promotion from the Northern Premier League.

The ambitious Mariners’ hopes were twice ended at Town’s hands but last year, they both reached their goal with Shields promoted as champions and Yellows via the play-offs.

The Tynesiders have flown out of the traps at their new level and sit third in the table having won six of their 11 league matches thus far.

Only one of those victories has come on the road, but Beesley is expecting nothing other than another blockbuster clash between two sides who have become intrinsically bound together.

“They like us deserve to be at this level,” he said.

“We’re both here for a reason, which is we’ve done well enough in the league below to get up.

“We should have gone up a few years ago and they should have gone up in the Covid season, so it’s good we’re meeting again at this new level and we’re looking forward to it.

“They’re full-time footballers and we know what they’re about – they’re an excellent team and we’ve got to be ready for it.

“It will be another tough game, like they all are because that’s the league we’re in.

“It will be good to be back at home – we really look forward to it now because home games all feel like big events.

“There’s always 1,000 people there at a minimum and it’s excellent to be around.”