Match Preview :- Eastwood Town - Saturday September 10th, 2011 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, it's back to the Fold when we welcome Eastwood Town for the Blue Square Match (kick off 3pm). Eastwood are the other Badgers in the league and currently sit fourteenth in the league on eight points, twelve places and eleven points behind Celtic. There will be a match centre for this game.

Eastwood have not had the best of starts to the season since their off the field problems last season, with a win over Solihull away their only points on their travels. They have beaten Gloucester City at home, and had draws with Droylsden (2-2 on the opening day) and Blyth Spartans (0-0 most recent game) at home, and have only suffered one home defeat, a 1-0 loss to Worcester City. However, on the road, they have lost two of their three games, going down 2-0 at Colwyn Bay and 5-0 at Corby Town.

Last season we met Eastwood three times. They knocked us out of the FA Cup back in October, with Celtic getting some measure of revenge with a 2-1 win at Bower Fold and a draw away at Eastwood. In the 09/10 season, Celtic won 3-1 and 1-0 at Eastwood and at home respectively. This means that Eastwood are yet to beat us in the league. Compared to last season, when Eastwood finished in the play-off spots, only to concede it due to an off the field problem with their stand, this season has not started as well. Eastwood finished fourth last season, having scored eighty-two goals. In Lee Stevenson they had the league's second top scorer with twenty-three goals. Stevenson was one of the summer departures, joining Mansfield alongside Lindon Meikle (Eastwood's third top scorer). Matt Rheade was their second top scorer with twelve, and he now plies his trade with Corby Town.

This season's top scorer for the other Badgers is Lee Morris, who has two. Without a goal for three games, and having scored six all season, Eastwood average 0.8 goals per game, with just 0.6 away from home. Thanks to the 5-0 defeat away at Corby (with two goals from Rheade), they are conceding an average of 2.3 goals per game away (1.5 overall).

In an attempt to get their season back on track, Eastwood have loaned Karlton Watson from Notts Forest. The nineteen year old central defender is coming back to fitness after missing the 10/11 season with an ankle injury, after being voted academy player of the 09/10 season. Also on loan is winger Aaron Cole who joins for a month from Derby County. Although Eastwood do not appear to have any injury worries ahead of the game, Jake Sheridan is suspended for this match after being sent off in their 1-0 defeat at home to Worcester.

In their last match, the 0-0 home draw with Blyth Spartans, Eastwood lined up as:
1. Jake Want
2. Alex Troke
3. Craig Armstrong
4. Steven Istead
5. Gavin Caines
6. Karlton Watson
7. Aaron Cole
8. Jake Sheridan
9. Shayne Bradley
10. Lee Morris
11. Craig Westcarr

Celtic won again on Saturday, beating Histon 1-0 at Histon. This increases Celtic's unbeaten run to fourteen games and means we have lost just once in twenty-three games since mid-February, and just twice in twenty-eight games since mid-January. The automated prediction algorithm is suggesting that this will be extended to fifteen unbeaten and seven wins out of eight with a 3-2 win for Celtic. Craig Hobson returned to team action when he came on as a substitute, but Dennis Sheriff and Mitchell Austin are both on loan at Worksop Town. In our last match, the 1-0 win over Histon – with the games only goal scored by Lloyd Ellams – Celtic lined up as:
1. Jan Budtz
2. Joel Bembo-Leta
3. Andy McWilliams
4. Rhys Meynell
5. Kristian Platt
6. Jack Rea
7. Adam Kay
8. Greg Wilkinson
9. Phil Marsh
10. Lloyd Ellams
11. Connor Jennings

As Celtic's immense start to the campaign continues, it has to come to an end eventually. Eastwood are struggling, and it is a good time to be playing them, so hopefully that time won't be this weekend.

Other games on Saturday:
Altrincham (7pts 15th) v Worcester City (11pts 6th)
Blyth Spartans (6pts 17th) v Droylsden (11pts 8th)
Boston United (11pts 9th) v Solihull Moors (0pts 22th)
Colwyn Bay (10pts 11th) v Histon (6pts 19th)
Corby Town (13pts 5th) v Guiseley (16pts 3rd)
Gainsborough Trinity (15pts 4th) v Bishop's Stortford (6pts 18th)
Harrogate Town (8pts 13th) v Gloucester City (11pts 7th)
Hinckley United (6pts 20th) v Halifax Town (10pts 10th)
Vauxhall Motors (7pts 16th) v Nuneaton Town (8pts 12th)
Workington (4pts 21t) v Hyde (21pts 1st)

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