WARRINGTON Rylands are about to reach a significant marker in their season – and they find themselves in an incredible position.

With almost a third of their Northern Premier League fixtures played, Blues sit second in the Premier Division having not lost in the league since the opening day.

Michael Clegg’s side are also unbeaten in their seven NPL away games and will look to extend that record when they visit Lancaster City tomorrow.

Runaway leaders Radcliffe are eight points ahead of the Gorsey Lane men, but Rylands enjoy the significant fillip of a six-point cushion inside the play-off positions even despite seeing two points go begging when conceding a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Bamber Bridge in midweek.

However, Clegg insists they will not get “hung up” on that disappointment as they head north to take on the Dolly Blues.

“After Saturday, it will be a third of the season gone and we are in an unbelievable position,” he said.

“The whole club – staff, players, volunteers etc – are all together and we’re loving life at the moment.

“Tuesday was just a little bit of a low but we won’t get too hung up on it.”

Rylands will be boosted for their trip to the Giant Axe Stadium by a return to contention for club captain James Neild.

The midfielder has missed the last three matches through suspension following his red card during the FA Trophy defeat at Avro earlier this month, but he is free to play again having completed his ban.

And while he believes the team have coped well in his absence, Clegg says Neild’s presence has been missed.

“He’s just one of those people who puts fires out, drives you forward and snaps into tackles,” he said.

“That’s why he’s our captain but I think we’ve coped really well without him for the three games.

“He’ll be itching to get back on the pitch on Saturday, which will be a really tough game but we can cause any team problems on our day.”

Ben Hough will still be missing on Saturday through suspension but Blues were heartened by veteran midfielder Dean Furman’s return from injury in midweek after he missed Saturday’s 1-0 win over Hyde United.

This weekend’s opponents Lancaster currently sit 14th in the table but have won three of their five matches on home soil this season.