Manager Jim Nichols is increasingly concerned at the amount of fixtures his Penrith side still have to play this season.

Nichols’ troops have played 25 Northern League, Division One fixtures – the least of anyone in their league.

That means the Bonny Blues still have 17 league matches to play before the end of their campaign and also will face Silloth in a Cumberland Cup Quarter-Final tie next Saturday, with the potential for Penrith to play two more Cumberland Cup games after that if they progress to the final.

But, despite the impending fixture backlog, they have not played for two weeks and have not had a midweek league fixture for five weeks.

Nichols said: “There is absolutely nothing we can do about it. That is the frustrating thing.

"All we can do when we play football is go out and get a win. It is frustrating because you cannot get a run going.

“Whether the answer is to start the season early or extend the season, I don’t know.”

But Penrith will return to action this afternoon when they welcome Newton Aycliffe to Frenchfield Park (3pm kick-off).

The Newtonians are 11th in the league table but hit national headlines for all the wrong reasons in December following a fight which broke out after their FA Vase tie with Morpeth Town.

After the incident, Newton Aycliffe sacked their manager, while a number of players have since left the club, too.

“I don’t know an awful lot about them,” Nichols admitted.

“But they do have Jamie Owens [regarded as one of the best strikers in the Northern League].”

When the two sides met at Newton’s Moore Lane earlier this season, Penrith claimed a 4-3 victory.

Nichols said: “It was a bizarre game. I had not been in the job long. We were behind for a lot of the game and ended up with ten men.”

Martyn Coleman and Dean Rea will both be banned today but Tyler Bowman is back in the Bonny Blues’ squad.

On the recent return of Bowman, Nichols said: “It’s a big, big plus to have him back because he can play a number of positions.”

Penrith yesterday completed the signing of former Northern Ireland Under-21 midfielder Bryan Gilfillan.