WORCESTER Raiders' manager Karl Gormley insists his side will not worry about their underdog label as they kick-off the inaugural 'Red Recruitment Trophy' this Saturday against Alvechurch (3pm).

The four-team 'friendly' tournament has been set-up by Redditch United and included fellow Worcestershire clubs Raiders, Church and also Bromsgrove Sporting.

All teams will play each other home and away in order for all sides to get fans through the turnstiles in what will be their first competitive fixtures in six weeks.

Church, Redditch and Sporting all play in the Southern League Premier Division Central, three steps higher in the non-league ladder than Raiders, who currently sit second in the West Midlands (Regional) Premier Division table.

Despite the step up, Gormley says his side are excited for the challenge.

"The lads are really looking forward to it," he said.

"We had a good training session on Tuesday night, we put them through it a little bit.

"Obviously we’ve got Alvechurch on Saturday who are a really good side and that’ll be a good test for us in anticipation of our cup tie with Malvern Town on Tuesday.

"We will be massive underdogs in all the games given the standard of opposition and it was something me and Chris (Cornes, co-manager) talked about and there were lots of pros and cons to it.

"But when you weight it all up we haven’t got a lot to lose.

"We could have arranged some training games with sides not as good but the lads aren’t going to get much out of that whereas now we can push the lads and test them and that will stand us in good stead for when the league campaign gets underway again.

"We won’t sit back, we will look to play and win like we always do."

Government restrictions on tier three areas have seen most non-league seasons suspended, which means some clubs have not had any income for a substantial amount of time.

Gormley admits it's been a tough time for many but is looking forward to the Raiders supporters being there at Sixways on Saturday.

"We have had a lot of interest in the game on Saturday," he added.

"The supporters just want to get back to normality and support there team again.

"Tickets are on sale for next three games so hopefully all fans will get a chance to watch us play.

"A lot of teams are really struggling financially with no supporters but there’s nothing anyone can do, we have to keep players and supporters safe."