AFC Fylde midfielder Richie Baker is eagerly anticipating tonight’s play-off semi-final against Harrogate Town.

The Coasters ended the National League North season with a 2-2 draw away at Worcester City at the weekend and now take on the Yorkshire outfit in a two-legged semi-final for the right to play either North Ferriby United or Boston United in the final.

Fylde have taken four points from Harrogate this season, most recently in a 2-1 victory just ten days ago, but Baker believes all four sides could be a force to be reckoned with in the play-offs.  

Baker said: “I didn’t really mind who we got in the play-offs. All four are very good teams so I don’t think it matters who got who. We all deserve to be where we are.

“All four teams are good at different aspects to each other really and they make that work for themselves. North Ferriby have big Tom Denton up front and a difficult pitch to play on, Harrogate have two very dangerous wingers and Boston have a clinical strike force that score a lot of goals.

“Harrogate isn’t a bad draw for us because they have a nice pitch and if I was being really picky then I’d want Boston to beat Ferriby so that we would get the final at Kellamergh Park.” 

Fylde were in prime position to nick the runners up spot in the league on Saturday, however a second half comeback from Worcester spoiled the party and Baker believes the result and performance summed up his side’s fortunes this term.

“I think that performance was us in a nutshell this season. We can be unplayable at times, batter teams and create lots of chances and then at the same time we can let the opposition back into games far too easily.

“I think if we had got a third goal then their heads would have dropped. Being three goals behind is difficult to come back from mentally but they got one and it gave them some confidence that we should never have allowed them.

“I had a couple of chances and I think I should have scored the second one personally. The first one was bouncing coming across me and perhaps I should have hit the target but the second one I should have done better.

Striker Danny Rowe’s brace at the Aggborough Stadium earned him the accolade of the league top scorer, however a late goal from Boston’s Dayle Southwell means they will share the award and Baker was full of sympathy for his teammate.

“Rowey is a bit gutted because he thought if he’d have got one, then it would have wrapped up the top scorer award. He ended up with two and was buzzing only to find out after the game that Southwell had scored a late hat-trick!

“Rowey has been class for us this season and has scored an awful lot of goals so it’s a great achievement for him. It’s just a bit of a shame that he has to share the accolade with someone else.”