FORMER Burnley man Gerry Harrison says ex-Blackburn Rovers midfielder Mark Patterson is the man to get Leigh out of the danger zone in the Nationwide Conference.

Darwen-based Patterson, who also played for Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United, took over at the Hilton Park club at the turn of the year just weeks after joining the club as assistant to Steve Waywell.

And Harrison, who now works at Burnley's Leisure Centre at Turf Moor as well as playing part-time for Leigh, says he is the man to turn the third-from-bottom club around.

Leigh travel to Rossendale United tonight, one of Patterson's former clubs, in the Lancashire FA Marsden Trophy, but Harrison says the gaffer may have other things on his mind than putting one over on his former club.

"I think we will put out quite a strong side," said the defender, who is likely to miss the game with a knee injury.

"But he hasn't mentioned the game or talked about how it is one of his former clubs because with all due respect I think he has other things on his mind like keeping us in the Conference!"

Since Patterson took over Leigh have won two and lost two and have managed to plug a few holes in their defence.

"We were conceding about two goals a game on average before he arrived but since then we have only conceded two goals in four games.

"I think we just needed a change. Steve Waywell liked us to play open attacking football but it meant we were conceding silly goals.

"The new manager has brought a few ideas in, he has got us playing a little bit differently and the lads seem pretty happy with it and think we will get out of relegation. We are just more solid as a team.

"It was no surprise when he took over even though he had only been at the club a few weeks.

"He just seemed to be in the right place at the right time."

Also in the current Leigh squad is Dino Maamria, the Clarets' ethnic minorities officer.

"He is supposed to be our dream goalscoring machine," joked Harrison. "But he has only scored 12 in the league. You can't count the five he scored in the cups because he didn't score any in the important cup games."

Even though Leigh are part-time, Patterson has tried to instill a more professional attitude into the players, which came as a shock to some, said Harrison.

"I was used to it because I have played professional football. I know how to be disciplined but it was a bit of a shock to some of the other lads.

"But he is a winner and he wants his teams and players, even though we are not professional, to behave as though we are.

"There are a lot of players in this league who are good enough to play second or third division football but because of the financial situation at the moment they are finding it more profitable to drop into the Conference and get a full-time job as well."

Dale will be hoping to add Leigh to their list of higher division scalps tonight. The UniBond first division side have beaten four UniBond Premier sides in cup competitions this season.

Kick off is at 7.45pm, weather permitting