Russell Penn hopes home form can power Halesowen Town to No.9 derby win

Play-off chasing Halesowen will look to complete a double over fierce rivals Stourbridge at The Grove on Saturday.

There is a lot on the line for both sides, with the Yeltz sitting a point behind the Southern Central Premier play-off places, while Stourbridge sit a point clear of the relegation zone.

Halesowen have won their last three league matches on home soil, and boss Penn hopes the backing of a roaring home crowd can work to their advantage.

"These are the games you want, you don’t want two mid-table teams," he said. 

"I’m sure Stourbridge would rather be in our position, but they’ve got things to fight for and it will mean as much to them as it does to us.

"Our home form has been fantastic, and hopefully that can be a big advantage to us."

The Yeltz are looking to bounce back from defeat at Bishop's Stortford last weekend.

Penn's side had scored 10 goals in their previous two matches - putting six past Barwell and four past Quorn.

But despite their setback in Hertfordshire, Penn remains buoyant.

He added: "The performance was good, we just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. It’s like we used all of our lives in the Barwell game where everything seemed to go in. 

"It was just one of those games. I wasn’t too disappointed because I know these things can happen, we just have to continue our standards.

"We know the points target that we need and there’s three points up for grabs on Saturday, that is all we can try to achieve."