On Saturday, Celtic must put their exit from the FA Cup behind them, and travel to Fleetwood Town for a Conference North encounter (kick off 3pm). Fleetwood are currently eighteenth in the league, ten points and fourteen places behind Celtic. There will be a live match centre for this game.
With just two wins under their belt, Fleetwood are finding life in the Conference North hard after their recent promotion. Their two wins this season are one at home to Vauxhall Motors, whilst the other was on the road when they beat Gainsborough Trinity 4-3 at the Northolme. They have managed one draw at home, when Alfreton Town visited. In other home results, they have been beaten by Tamworth, Gateshead and Hucknall Town. Arguably Fleetwood?s best performance of the season was a 1-1 draw away at Southport.
It?s been sixteen years since Celtic last faced Fleetwood, when the two teams lined up in the Unibond Premier in the 91/92 season. Celtic were victorious both home and away that season, beating Fleetwood 2-0 on both occasions. In the previous two seasons, Fleetwood fared better, beating Celtic 3-1 at Highbury in November 1990, though they lost 2-0 when they came to the Fold that season. In the 89/90 season, Fleetwood won games, beating us 5-4 at home, and 1-0 away. Our first meetings in 1988 were both draws.
With Celtic having one four of our last five away games, and Fleetwood losing three of their last five, the automated prediction algorithm has suggested a 4-2 win for Celtic on Saturday, which would be a healthy tonic for last Saturday?s result and show great character by the team. The team is more than capable of achieving such a result.
Fleetwood?s Golden Boot this year is currently a three way tie between Adam Warlow, Andy Bell, and Kevin Leadbetter, all of whom have three goals to their name. Eight of their fourteen goals have come in the second half, with four in the last ten minutes. Seven of their conceded twenty-two goals have also come in the second half, with nine coming in the last twenty minutes. Fleetwood have kept two clean sheets this season, the one at home against Vauxhall, whilst they have failed to score at home only once, against Gateshead. Five of their goals have been at home, and their away form is slightly better than their home form.
Fleetwood are through to the next round of the FA cup, having beaten Frickley Athletic 2-0 on Saturday at Highbury, and will face Nantwich Town in the next round. Andy Bell and Ricky Mercer were the scorers for them in that match. The Fleetwood team in that match contained three former Celts: Steve Foster, Colin Potts and Farrell Kilbane, whilst new signing Georges Santos did not feature. Fleetwood are looking to the fitness of Mark Peers and Nathan Pond ahead of the match on Saturday, and against Frickley lined up as:
1. Danny Hurst
2. Kieran Walmsley
3. John Hills
4. Ricky Mercer
5. Farrell Kilbane
6. Warren Beattie
7. Colin Potts
8. Jamie Milligan
9. Andy Bell
10. Adam Warlow
11. Kevin Leadbetter
Ashley Woolliscroft?s red card against Durham City does not start until the 25th October, and he will miss Stafford, Droylsden and Alfreton. In that game, Celtic lined up as:
1. Paul Phillips
2. Ashley Woolliscroft
3. Rhys Meynell
4. Tom Sharpe
5. Terry Barwick
6. Paul Sykes
7. Steve Torpey
8. Keith Briggs
9. Lee Ellington
10. Andy Smart
11. Chris Williams
Celtic have the best attack in the league, having scored twenty-three goals (tied with Tamworth). Though we are twelfth in the defensive stakes having conceded fifteen, Fleetwood are near the bottom with twenty-two, just above Hucknall and Hyde (twenty-three each). Celtic went out of the FA Cup at the same stage last season, with a similar beating, against Workington; we then beat Redditch away in our following game. Hopefully, a similar result will go some way to restore the self-confidence of the team. They are certainly capable of it.