IT will be a bitter-sweet day for boss Mark Bower on Saturday as he leads his Bradford Park Avenue team against one of his former clubs.

York City are the visitors, and there will also be mixed emotions for their keeper Jon Worsnop, who did so well for Avenue last season, helping them beat the drop from Vanarama National League North.

Bower brought Worsnop back for his third spell with Avenue but the fans’ favourite left at the end of the campaign.

He has featured for the Minstermen in their first two league games since last term's relegation - a 1-0 home defeat to AFC Telford United before Worsnop kept a clean sheet on Tuesday as York banked their first points with a 2-0 win at Blyth Spartans.

Bower’s side have also opened with a win and a loss, so both clubs go into the all-ticket clash at the Horsfall Stadium with three points on the board.

Bower said: “We’re all set for the game, and what a game it is for us - a big game against a massive club at this level.

“We’ll need to be at our very, very best to get anything from it because they’re a full-time club and they have a lot of players who have been full- time all of their careers and a lot of players with Football League experience.

“Our lads are looking forward to it and we started well with a win last weekend but we were beaten on Monday.

"The turning point there was Javan’s (Vidal) red card because, as well as our ten men played, Southport made the most of the extra space late on.”

York City are one of the bookies' favourites for the title this term but they have had a torrid last two years.

Back-to-back relegations have seen them plummet from Sky Bet League Two to the sixth tier of English football.

Witnessing that decline has been hard for Bower, who said: “I had a couple of spells there as a player 15 to 20 years ago and its heartbreaking to see them out of the league.

“I got great experience at the club - it was my first taste of regular league football and what I learned there was valuable to me throughout my own playing career.

"It’s really sad to see them at this level from a personal point of view but it’s great for our club and our players to be playing games like this.

“The fans will love it as well. We’ve got a big old ground and the spectators are a bit away from the pitch because of the running track but when you get a big crowd in, the atmosphere goes up a notch and the players really thrive on it.”