WAYNE Goodison believes a backlog of fixtures facing 1874 Northwich this season may be unprecedented.

They still have more than half of their North West Counties League matches to play, along with a minimum of four ties in cup competitions.

That’s at least 27 games.

“I can’t think of a situation like it in my career,” said the co-manager.

“We once played four or five times in seven days when I was at Buxton just to finish the season, but there wasn’t anything riding on them for us or our opponents.

“Our attitude hasn’t changed; we’ll get on with it the best that we can.”

The weather continues to hamper their cause.

Snow and freezing temperatures since an FA Vase quarter-finals success at Leighton prompted three league games – against Charnock Richard, Northwich Victoria and Barnoldswick – to be called off last week.

However league officials have confirmed to the Guardian that the campaign won’t be extended, and have now scheduled for 1874 to play five Premier Division games in the final week.

That includes outings on successive days, against AFC Liverpool and Burscough, before concluding with a trip to Squires Gate on May 5.

“A date for the season to end is set by the FA,” said a league spokesman.

“It’s rare for any application to go beyond that to be successful because if you let one league do it, then everybody else will ask for the same.

“With a major re-organisation of the non-league pyramid scheduled for this summer, there is even less chance of a later finish.”

Report and picture gallery: Ashton Athletic 0-2 1874 Northwich

Goodison told the Guardian he is confident a squad he has assembled with Paul Bowyer is big enough to cope.

The duo had carefully planned their starting line-up for the games that were called off after returning from Leighton, but now have to rethink.

“This is causing us headaches,” he admitted.

“We talked on the bus home from Leighton about who would play, and none of those matches have gone ahead.

“It’s not just a case of push everything back because we want the lads who will play in the semi-final to be as sharp as possible.

“As a management team, we’re being really tested in that respect.

“We’ve continued to spell out to the players that we’ll need all of them and, while nobody will be happy when they’re left out, at least they’ll understand.

“If anybody moans about it, they’ll be shot down by the other lads in the dressing room.”

Winsford are next up on Monday in a rearranged Macron Cup encounter.