GARETH Ainsworth said he wants Wanderers to make Adams Park into a fortress this season - but admits his side face a tough start to their home campaign this week.

Blues make their long awaited return to competitive action on home turf after two encouraging performances on the road, as they face Carlisle United tomorrow before hosting Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday.

Both sides were relegated from League One last season - as were next week's opponents, Stevenage - and Ainsworth said they present a challenging prospect.

Wanderers only won at home ten times in a torrid campaign last year and their manager is desperate for a reversal of fortune.

But he said there are positive signs about his new-look side after opening the season away from home with a win and an unfortunate cup exit.

Ainsworth said: "Even I didn't expect them to gel so quickly and start playing together so well so quickly. We've had some good compliments paid by the opposition. If we can keep doing the same and give 100 per cent, we should be on a safe track.

"Hopefully we can get Adams Park into more of a fortress this year than it has been for the previous 18 months.

"You pride yourself on home form. We've had some strange results where we beat big teams at home but seem to falter against smaller teams, or have bad runs at home. There's been a few things put in place to change that. What we've put in place so far is looking solid and looking like it's got good foundations.

"Every team loves to play at home. The fans will want to come down and see the new faces and see the new team, and there's a little bit of a buzz about the team as well.

"I want to be able to make the fans proud of us and come with us on this plan that we've got."

Looking ahead to their next three opponents the Blues boss said: "It's three out of the four that came down in a week. That's going to be a really big challenge for us.

"We're a new squad as well - there will be new players all over the place for all of the teams. Stevenage have signed a lot, Carlisle have signed a lot."

That hasn't resulted in an upturn in form for tomorrow's opponents however, with the Cumbrians failing to score in either of their first two matches.

Luton Town, fresh from promotion out of non-league football, won 1-0 at Brunton Park on the opening day and Championship side Derby County beat them in the League Cup by a 2-0 scoreline that would have been far worse but for an excellent goalkeeping display by Mark Gillespie.

Tranmere meanwhile are also winless so far, drawing at home to York and being eliminated from the Cup by Nottingham Forest.