RAMSBOTTOM United want the fans of the area’s Football League clubs to back them in their biggest game of the season tomorrow as they look to jump into second place in the Vodkat League.

The Rams welcome big-spending New Mills to the Riverside for the Premier Division game, which sees the league’s second and third placed sides going head to head – and they are looking for a bumper crowd with professional near neighbours Blackburn Rovers, Bury and Manchester City all on their travels.

Joint-manager Anthony Johnson is determined to see his men overturn a defeat to the Peak District outfit last month in the game, and said: “We had a lot of players missing in that game but since then, we have not been beaten in the league and fully deserve to be where we are.

“This is a massive match for us and we would love to see as many people as possible coming down to watch us and see what we are about as we are joint second in the table and looking to claim that place for ourselves.

“When you consider that the top two teams in the division, Newcastle Town and New Mills, have a wage bill which is three or four times more than ours, the achieve-ment of being third is superb and a credit to the players.”

Ramsbottom’s last 10 league games have produced eight wins to take them into the heady heights of third, and Johnson added: “There is a massive carrot at the end of the rope for us, to be clear in second place in the table and that, with us reaching the half-way stage of the season, would be a fantastic achievement for us as managers and the club as a whole.”