Conor Tinnion will be back in the Workington Reds line-up as they head to pastures new this afternoon – taking on league new boys Basford United.

Tinnion missed Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Marine in appalling conditions at Borough Park.

And his return will be a boost to the side, as they will miss the services of Niall Cowperthwaite, who is struggling to shake off a niggling injury.

Joint manager Dave Hewson said: “Niall is struggling to recover from an injury he picked up on Tuesday night.

“I think because he was out of the game with injury for a couple of years, he is finding that he is picking up some niggling injuries so we have to be cautious and take it slowly with him at the moment.

“But Conor will come back into the side which is a huge boost for us.”

And in more good news for Reds, Jack Ryan could be nearing a comeback earlier than expected.

The Barrow-based striker suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury at Shaw Lane early last season and needed a reconstruction operation.

But he has been following a rehab programme and he is hoping to get the green light to get back into training at the end of October.

“This will give us a big lift as we weren’t expecting to have him back so early,” he added.

Hewson said he was looking for a fresh start against Basford.

“It was disappointing on Tuesday but upon reflection we have to take into consideration the conditions which were very difficult,” he said.

“We need to get the boys positive again and get the confidence going. Tuesday is put behind us now and we have to look for a fresh start at Basford.”

Hewson says that he and joint manager Lee Andrews need to look to get the best out of the players and have them firing on all cylinders to move forward.

“We need to focus on ourselves and make sure we are doing everything right to get the best out of the players,” he added.

“The players have not hit full flow yet and we need to focus on getting them there and realising their full potential.”