Alfreton Town make the long journey to Cumbria on Wednesday to contest a tough Blue Square North play-off semi final first leg at Workington.
In what will be a third battle of the Reds this season, the Derbyshire version will travel with plenty of confidence on the back of a nine-game unbeaten league run which concluded with a second successive third-place finish after a 3-2 home win over Hinckley United last Saturday.
The first leg tie becomes the biggest game of the season as both teams chase dreams of reaching the Blue Square Premier Division.
This season's league games have seen the Derbyshire Reds pick up four of the six points and they are no strangers to making midweek trips to Borough Park.
Way back on Tuesday, September 8, the sides drew 1-1 in Cumbria with Liam Hearn's 76th minute strike equalising a Jonny Wright goal on 31 for the hosts.
Alfreton won the return game 2-0 on February 16th with goals from Josh Law on 55 and Paul Clayton on 85. Although it has to be pointed out that Workington chose to rest a few of their more seasoned campaigners ahead of an FA Trophy clash at Stevenage Borough four days later.
Indeed, Borough Park has been a decent hunting ground for Alfreton over the past few years and another midweek victory, a 2-1 success, was achieved in the 2007/08 season. The year after Alfreton won 3-0 in Cumbria and they also drew 1-1 in 2006/07. The last defeat was a 2-0 reverse back in 2005/06.
Workington's climb to a final fourth place finish in the table has come on the back of nine wins and two draws in their last 11 games. They have also impressively won seven in a row on their travels with some tremendously gritty, spirited performances.
Aside from their superb transformation since mid-March, the Cumbrians have also shown their capabilities in the cups with victories over Blue Square Premier Division outfits AFC Wimbledon and Rushden & Diamonds in the FA Trophy.
However, Alfreton can boast just one defeat (3-2 at Gainsborough Trinity ten games ago) in their last 21 league games, over half of the season.
Alfreton manager Nicky Law has no injury or suspension worries for the tie and has plenty of selection options he could make.
Workington boss Darren Edmondson opted to rest some of his players during last Saturday's final league game of the campaign, a 1-1 draw at home with Stafford Rangers. The youngsters who filled in though are not expected to feature on Wednesday night.
Both sides in very good form home and away. Alfreton are unbeaten in their last five on the road and have only lost once in their last 11 on their travels.
Workington have not lost in their last seven on home turf, although they have dropped points in half of their last eight games at home with three draws and a defeat.
The two-legs are going to be very difficult to call, but Alfreton will be certainly be buoyed by the recent 3-1 away win at champions Southport and they have also tended to produce real top drawer performances when the situation has demanded it over recent months.
The second leg is at the Impact Arena on Sunday, May 2 with a 3pm kick-off.
