On Saturday, weather permitting, Stalybridge Celtic will host AFC Telford United in the FA Trophy (kick off 3pm). Telford are currently tenth in the Blue Square North, three places and six points behind Celtic. There will be a Live Match Centre for this game, and segregation will be in force.
Telford have been in the play-off spots this season, but after a run of four losses and a draw dropped down to their current position, recently turning this slump around with two wins on the bounce, most recently beating Workington at home and Solihull Moors away. All but one of their wins this season have come against bottom half teams, the one exception being against Celtic in the second game of the season. Indeed, Celtic have not beaten Telford in eleven times of asking, with our last win in 1996 when both teams were in the Conference National. Since the teams have been reunited in the Conference North, Celtic have not beaten Telford, our best result being a 2-2 draw in August 2008.
Telford?s top scorer this season is Liam Blakeman, with Steve Torpey having left to join Fleetwood Town, who are Celtic?s next opponents. His three goals, put him slightly ahead of Matt Nola, Andy Brown and Phil Trainer, who all have four. Telford score an average of 1.1 goals pet game (home and away), and concede an average of 1.1 goals per game away (1.2 overall). With four goals in the first half, they are struggling to get going, but finish strongly, with five of their sixteen goals coming in the last ten minutes. They concede equally between the two halves, conceding nine in each. They have managed four clean sheets on the road, and six overall, whilst failing to score just once away from home, and three times overall.
Having just completed a pair of losses in cup competitions, losing 3-1 to Lincoln City in the FA Cup and 2-1 to Shrewsbury Town in their county cup, their last league game was at the start of November and saw them beat Solihull Moors away from home, 2-1. Telford will be without the services of striker Mark Danks, following a sending off in their 1-0 win over Workington, and he is suspended for the game. In their FA Cup game that they lost to Lincoln City in, Telford lined up as:
1. Ryan Young
2. Lee Vaughan
3. Sean Newton
4. Gavin Cowan
5. Shane Killock
6. Carl Rodgers
7. Jon Adams
8. Liam Blakeman
9. Steve Thompson
10. Andy Brown
11. Phil Trainer
Hopefully, the game can go ahead, despite the persistent rain, and new goalkeeper Dave Carnell can get a game under his belt. In our last match, the 2-1 defeat at home to Chester City in the Cheshire Senior Cup, Celtic lined up as:
1. Ryan Moss
2. Richard Battersby
3. Andy Smart
4. Graeme Law
5. Warren Peyton
6. John Hardiker
7. Dave Hankin
8. Keith Briggs
9. Joe O?Neill
10. Matty Barlow
11. Michael Carr
Celtic will be looking for revenge for the earlier season defeat at the hands of Telford, and the automated prediction algorithm supports this, suggesting a 2-1 win for Celtic.