COLWYN Bay manager Craig Hogg is expecting a tough test when his side travel to in-form Prescot Cables on Saturday (3pm).

The Seagulls go in search of their third consecutive victory during what has been a fantastic festive period for the club, but this is undoubtedly the sternest test of their Christmas fixtures as Cables are the joint-leading scorers in the division, with 48 in 19 games.

They also boast the division’s top scorer in Chris Almond, who has netted 18 times so far this term, and the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One West promotion hopefuls currently sit in fourth position in the standings.

Hogg’s men are now just six points off the playoffs in tenth spot, but the rookie manager is under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting his side this weekend.

He said: "Boxing Day was an excellent performance and the players should be proud of the football they produced and the overall team reaction after going a goal down.

"Some of our play was genuinely a joy to watch and the way the players created chances and finished them off was brilliant.

"Yes, we've had a good month with nine points out of a possible 12 so far in December, but all that hard work now has to account for something moving into the Prescot game, which poses our toughest test yet.

"We know we go into the fixture as underdogs because the table doesn't lie. If Prescot win their games in hand they will go top of the table and that wouldn't surprise me at all.

"We will have to perform to the highest possible level we can to have a chance of getting anything out of the game.

"We have injury concerns with a couple of players, but apart from that we travel with a similar squad to Boxing Day and the hope is that the players have recovered sufficiently from that to give their best in this difficult fixture."