BROMSGROVE Rovers manager Jimmy Mullen has urged the club's supporters to come out in force and cheer their side to promotion on Saturday.

Rovers face a difficult task when they go to Worcestershire neighbours Evesham United in the Southern League Division One West play-off final (3pm kick off).

However, Mullen believes that with the backing of Rovers' passionate fans his side can overcome the odds at Common Road and book their place in the Premier Division.

He said: "The players love getting great support, it helps them raise their game.

"The fans were absolutely brilliant against Clevedon, they were a tremendous boost and got something extra out of the players.

"There's no other football on and everyone will want to watch this game.

"I'm hoping our support can out number theirs and turn it into a home fixture."

Rovers head into their most important match of the season as the underdogs.

Saturday's opponents missed out on automatic promotion, finishing third, and had to score an extra-time goal against Ashford Town on Bank Holiday.

However, Dave Busst's side holds the advantage after inflicting two defeats over Bromsgrove this season.

Rovers lost at home to Evesham 3-1 and Mullen's side were shot down by a Richard Ball brace in January's 2-0 defeat.

Sticks

The defeat in New Year still sticks in Mullen's throat.

The game was punctuated by aggressive tackling by the home side.

Mark Benbow was the victim of a high tackle by Evesham's Simon Fitter in the first minute.

Mullen said: "Those tackles still gall me, especially the one on Mark.

"It was the worst tackle I've seen in 20-years and the Evesham player only got a yellow card.

"The referee is going have to be strong because it's going to be a very competitive match between two local sides."

Midfield dynamo Scott Hadland is expected to be okay for Saturday's crunch clash.

Hadland, who missed the last month's action with a knee injury, was taken off after an hour as he tired.

Mullen though was pleased to see him back in the side.

He said: "I took a gamble on playing Scott as he hadn't played a lot in April.

"I told him if he was struggling not to mess about, and to be fair to him once he began to tire he told us."

Sure

The Rovers boss admitted to the Advertiser/Messenger he is 99 per-cent sure of playing the team which held its nerve to beat Clevedon 3-2 in extra-time in the play-off semi-final on Bank Holiday Monday.

He said: "I'll have to wait and see what shape the players are like in training, but they should be fine."

The chances of Paul Szewczyk and Leon Mitchell being paired up front for Saturday are set to be high.

The duo produced their best performances of the season to guide Rovers past Clevedon.

Mullen decided to pair the duo after watching them play against Mangotsfield United at home on April 23.

He said: "They compliment each other very well.

"Paul is strong and holds the ball up, while Leon has pace to burn."

The manager was relieved to see his side show character after conceding an equaliser just before half time on Monday.

He said: "We should have easily been 3-0 up but we let in a penalty and were back to square one.

"But we told the players to keep on playing as they had been and they showed great character."

* Tickets for the coach to Evesham, which leaves the Victoria Ground at 12.30pm, are still available. Call the commercial office on 01527 876949 to book a place or get more details.

The club is holding its presentation and disco at the Victoria Club on Saturday night (8pm start), with admission free.

By Peter McKinney