Saturday will Celtic make the short trip across Tameside for the basement battle with neighbours Ashton United. Ashton, like Celtic, are mired in the relegation zone, and will be looking to narrow the gap on Vauxhall, Runcorn and Moor Green, just like us. They are one of the few teams beaten already this season by Celtic, and they have not won for three league games, whilst Celtic haven?t lost for three league games.

Ashton are currently only two points ahead of Celtic and have played one more game, so a win on Saturday will see Celtic swap places with Ashton and apply further psychological pressure to those just outside the zone. Ashton have already lost one basement battle, last Saturday against Moor Green (whom Celtic play on Tuesday night!), and before that they were beaten by Gainsborough Trinity by a narrow margin. In the past five games, they have scored five goals, failing to score against Gainsborough, but holding Worcester to a two all draw. Their only clean sheet in this period came against Droylsden, which was their only win in their last ten matches.

Ashton did win their last game, in the Manchester Premier Cup when they beat Curzon Ashton at Hurst Cross 2-1, and they may have taken some confidence from that victory.

At home, Ashton score an average of 1.2 goals per game, whilst conceding 1.8 goals per game. Their top scorer is Paul Garvey since the departure of second top scorer Josh Mitten to Altrincham. Garvey has found the net nine times this season, putting him joint seventh in the league goal scorers? chart. Most of Ashton?s goals have come in the first half, mainly thanks to Mitten, with Garvey preferring the second half to score in. There best period is just before half time when they have scored six. Most goals scored against them are in the second half, with two thirds of the goals going into their net, coming in this period, with twelve conceded in the last fifteen minutes, and another eleven conceded around the hour mark.

Celtic, on the other hand, are coming into the game off the back of some tough ties and have taken something from their last four matches. The top league scorers are still Nathan Wharton and Andy Hayward (with five each), though Aron Wilford will soon be pressing for golden boot honours if he continues his goal a game form. Away from home, Celtic are scoring 0.8 goals per game, and conceding 1.6, indicating a poor start to the season. Most goals are scored in the first half, with a slight peak at twenty minutes. Conceding wise, though Celtic have kept two clean sheets recently, a lot of goals have gone in over the season around the half hour and last ten minutes.

Ashton rested several players against Curzon, but still put out quite a strong side. New Manager Andy Johnson currently has no injury or suspension worries, and fielded the following side against Curzon:

1. Ashley Connor
2. Andy Thackeray
3. Nicky Clee
4. Dean Johnson
5. Danny White
6. Phil Cooney
7. Craig Fleury
8. Simon Carden
9. Neill Hardy
10. Paul Garvey
11. Will Dolan

Celtic could well be without Nathan Wharton, if the yellow card picked up against Bradford tipped him over the limit, but with Danny Caldecott aiming to try and stake a place back in the side, Celtic?s only injury absentee (apart from the long standing Chris Denham) is now Terry Bowker who picked up a knock against Bradford. New signing Paul Shepherd will probably start alongside Paul Sykes, despite the solid game of Gregg Pearce midweek. Celtic rested a few key players in the match at Bradford, lining up as:
1. Craig Dootson
2. Terry Bowker
3. Tony Whealing
4. Gregg Pearce
5. Paul Sykes
6. Nathan Wharton
7. Dean Calcutt
8. Scott Bonsall
9. Phil Eastwood
10. Aron Wilford
11. Phil Hadland

This is a game that even the prediction algorithm thinks Celtic can win, predicting a narrow 2-1 victory to Celtic. However, this will not be an easy game. Ashton have done well in their derbies at home, and both sides need the points for the same reason. Celtic can win, and a win would mean so much going into the game against Moor Green on Tuesday.