STAND have shown manager Nick Davis they have 'another dimension' to their game after beating an incredibly strong Leek CSOB side last Saturday.

Davis said CSOB were the best team his side had come up against this season and asked their manager after the game why they were not doing better in NWCL Division Two.

"He just smiled and said he hadn't had that team out before this season.

"They were by far the best side we have played - if it was their side."

CSOB have a history of recruiting players from neighbours Leek Town - who currently lie third in the UniBond First Division - for games toward the end of the season when the fixtures start to pile up.

Leek Town played at Harrogate on the day Stand played at CSOB - but some of their fringe players may have been released for the fixture against the side who are now 13 points clear at the top of the table.

"The best thing was that it inspired our best performance," said Davis. "In most games we dictate the play and then the goals come but we had to defend because they pummelled us for half an hour.

"Our goalkeeper Tommy Allen was fantastic and Steve Davis at the back was brilliant. We scored after about 15 minutes and then got another late on before they got a dubious penalty.

"But they showed me we had a dimension I didn't realise we had. I didn't know we were capable of defending like that."

Davis now thinks his side are on the 'home straight' in their race to the First Division.

"I'm not saying too much yet but if we don't win it it will be the biggest throwaway in history," he said.

Stand meet Bacup tomorrow at Ewood Bridge and Davis reckons if the Darwen match is anything to go by it will be tough. "They seem to take their local derbies very seriously around here," he said.

Left-back Alan Dixon is out with a calf strain but Steve Carroll and Paul Leonard may return.

"They are both players who have been out for a while, Paul with a fire service course and Steve with suspension and injury.

"So I now have around 16 quality players and I don't mind which 11 I have out so the rotation system is not proving a problem."

Meanwhile, Bacup manager Brent Peters and his side are desperate to play after more than three weeks without a game.

"It is very frustrating," said Peters. "We could do with a game before Tuesday's Marsden Trophy match at Clitheroe but it looks like both those games could be off if the weather doesn't improve.

"We are looking forward to playing Stand because on a level playing field I bet there is not much difference between the two sides."

Former Stand player Karl Stanley is out with a broken ankle and Mark Hall is supended. Julian Dowe is recovering from knee surgery. Peters has signed Rossendale Amateurs' Adam Murray as cover at centre half.