GORNAL boss Matt Fisher is urging West Bromwich Albion fans to come out in their droves as Baggies legend Lee Hughes brings his Worcester City side to Garden Walk this week.

Originally set to be played on Tuesday, the pre-season friendly has been rescheduled for a 7.45pm kick off on Thursday (July 13) to make sure the former Albion striker – who is now the player-manager at City – will be lacing up his boots.

Fisher told the News: “We know there is a big West Bromwich Albion fan base in Gornal and we wanted to make sure Lee was available.

“We are expecting a big crowd and it will be great to see not just Gornal fans, but plenty of Albion fans, here to watch him play.”

On the pitch, Athletic – who, after relegation, will now be playing in the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One – know it will be a tough task to match their opponents who were playing three levels above them in the football pyramid last season.

Fisher said: “I have spoken to Lee and he has told me all about what they’re trying to build down in Worcester.

“We are hopefully going to build our own relationship with them and work together to develop players.

“They’re going to be sending a couple of their younger lads down to us so they can get match practice which will fit into what we’ve been doing this pre-season.

“The youth aspect of our club has very much gone as we’ve signed a lot of players with experience over the summer.”

He added: “With the new experienced guys coming in and a couple of younger lads from Worcester I think we’ll have great balance to the squad going into this season.”