On Saturday, Celtic travel across Cheshire to face Witton Albion (kick off 3). Witton are currently tenth on eleven points, one point and two places above Celtic having played a two games less.
Witton have not lost at home this season, winning all three games without conceding a goal. Their last two games were at home, beating Gainsborough 1-0 most recently, and Hyde United 2-0 prior to that. With a 0-0 away draw at the end of August, they have not conceded a goal since they were beaten 3-0 by Nantwich in their Bank Holiday game. That defeat by Nantwich is their only loss this season, with a 1-0 home win over Mickleover and their opening game 1-1 a draw away at Whitby. Daniel McKenna is their top scorer with three goals. They only have three scorers in total: James Short and Liam Goulding are their other scorers with one a piece. They have scored their five goals at a rate of 0.8 goals per game, 1.3 at home (four goals) and conceded four goals, none at home, at a rate of 0.7 goals per game overall. They have four clean sheets, three at home, and scored in every home game, failing to score twice overall.
We've met Witton a lot over the years. Last season, the away team in both matches won, with Celtic winning 3-1 in our last visit to Witton, and, most recently, Witton winning 2-0 at Bower Fold. The season before, it was the home teams that won both matches, with Witton winning 4-1 at their place and Celtic winning 2-1 at Bower Fold. Since 1994, we've mainly met in the Cheshire Senior Cup, with Celtic winning two, and Witton winning two. Two seasons ago, we beat them in the FA Cup after drawing 1-1 in Witton, then winning 2-1 in the replay at home.
In Witton's last match, an FA Cup replay at home to Belper Town, Witton lost 1-0 in extra time inflicting their first home defeat of the season. In that match, they lined up as:
1. Chris Renshaw
2. Jack Byrne
3. James Short
4. Josh Wardle
5. Adam Anson
6. Liam Goulding
7. Danny McKenna
8. Billy Smart
9. Cesaire Lingouba
10. Tom Owens
11. James Murray
Celtic finally came out of their mini-slump beating Grantham Town 3-2 at Bower Fold on Tuesday night. In that match, Celtic lined up as:
1. Alex Fojtíček
2. Declan Walker
3. Kallum Mantack
4. Ross Dent
5. Mark Lees
6. Chris Smalley
7. Jonathan Ustabasi
8. Nathan Valentine
9. Craig Hobson
10. Darius Osei
11. Harry Freedman
A win for Celtic would see us leapfrog Witton, with a possible top-ten place on offer with three of the four teams within reach (Grantham, Witton, Nantwich and Lancaster), with Nantwich and Lancaster playing each other. A loss, however, could see the three of the four teams below us leapfrog us (Morpeth, FC United, Atherton and Bamber Bridge), with FC United playing Bamber Bridge.
