Poulton-le-Fylde to Liverpool

I'm fielding a query from a friend who wants to know what ticket to buy to get from Poulton-le-Fylde to Liverpool Lime Street, returning a couple of weeks later. It looks like the only returns offered on that route are day returns, so it would be two off-peak singles @ £20.20 each. However, I also see that you can buy a standard return-within-a-month return from Poulton to Hamilton Square (or other destinations in the Wirral) for £26.10. So I'm planning to recommend my friend buys this ticket and just doesn't bother using the Lime Street to Wirral bit. Is this correct?

I can see a £25.70 to Liverpool Lime Street of the same type as the one to Hamilton Square.

Oh thanks @trainJam, yeah, my mistake - I'd somehow missed that ticket when I looked up the fares on brfares.com.

The £25.70 fare is an "Anytime Short Return" (route via Preston), and isn't restricted to travel at or after 0900 on a weekday, as Off Peak tickets (had they been available) might've been.

There would be no problem stopping short on the ticket you suggest, but a better ticket has been suggested above