Saturday sees Celtic face yet more tough opposition when we take on fourth placed AFC Telford United at Bower Fold (kick off 3pm). Telford are on twenty-three points, eleven points and ten placed above Celtic. They are unbeaten this season having won six and drawn five of their opening eleven games. There will be a live match centre for this game.

Our last two league games have seen us take on Alfreton (second) and Boston (first), whilst our next two are Workington (fifth) and Guiseley (third), meaning in five games we will have played the top five teams. So far we have only been narrowly beaten by Alfreton and Boston, but further improvement will be required to take anything from the meanest defence in the league against Telford.

Telford have conceded a mere four goals this season, and have conceded just one away from the New Bucks Head, in a 1-1 draw away at Redditch. They opened this season with a 5-0 win at home to Hyde, still the highest home win this season. They followed it up with three more clean sheets including a 5-0 away win at Gainsborough. However, they have not won in their last three matches, drawing all three with two 0-0 draws at Alfreton and Corby, and a 1-1 at home to Worcester. Their last win was 11th September away at Solihull, and apart from the 5-0 at Gainsborough, have only scored three goals in five matches.

Our recent results against Telford are not encouraging, and we have not beaten them in their last eight visits here, with our last win being in 1994 when we beat them 1-0. They visited the Fold twice last season, beating us 3-0 on the opening day of last season?s league, before being held to a 1-1 draw in the Trophy, which Celtic went on to win 2-1 at their place, followed by a 1-0 league win at the New Bucks Head in the two teams? last encounter in March.

Telford?s top scorer this campaign is Phil Trainer, the ex-Celtic winger, who has found the net six times, making him the joint seventh top scorer in the league (Phil Marsh is joint fourth on seven). His closest rival in the Golden Boot stakes is Andy Brown who has scored four. On average, they score 1.9 goals a game (1.3 away) and concede 0.3 goals per game (0.2 away). Telford have kept seven clean sheets (five away from home) this season and failed to score in two games (both away). They have the fourth best attack with twenty-one goals, and the top defence with four concessions. Their most dangerous period is around half time, with a third of their goals coming in the ten minutes either side, whilst their most vulnerable period (if it can be called that) is the opening twenty minutes, when they have conceded half(!) of their goals.

Telford have just captured the signing of former Walsall left back Netan Sansara, whilst Liam Murray will be suspended, as he is serving a one match ban for an accumulation of cautions. In their last match, the 0-0 draw away at Alfreton, Telford lined up as:
1. Ryan Young
2. Will Salmon
3. Stuart Whitehead
4. Carl Rodgers
5. Liam Murray
6. Shane Killock
7. Greg Mills
8. Phil Trainer
9. Adam Proudlock
10. Stefan Bailey
11. Phillip John.

Connor Jennings is also serving a one match suspension for an accumulation of cautions. In our last match, the 2-1 defeat at home to Eastwood in the FA Cup, Celtic lined up as:
1. Jan Budtz
2. Glen Rule
3. Andy McWilliams
4. Joel Bembo-Leta
5. Alan White
6. Jack Rea
7. Conner Jennings
8. Greg Wilkinson
9. Phil Marsh
10. Craig Hobson
11. Lee Elam

The automated prediction algorithm is suggesting a 3-1 win for Telford in this match. A win could see us rise at most two places, whilst a loss could see us drop four.

Other fixtures on Saturday:
Alfreton Town (28pts 2nd) v Worcester City (15pts 12th)
Corby Town (21pts 6th) v Blyth Spartans (16pts 10th)
Droylsden (19pts 8th) v Workington (22pts 5th)
Eastwood Town (12pts 13th) v Guiseley (24pts 3rd)
Gloucester City (16pts 9th) v Gainsborough Trinity (7pts 19th)
Nuneaton Town (20pts 7th) v Hinckley United (9pts 16th)
Redditch United (7pts 20th) v Harrogate Town (9pts 17th)
Solihull Moors (16pts 11th) v Stafford Rangers (8pts 18th)
Vauxhall Motors (10pts 15th) v Hyde (6pts 21st)