Match Preview :- Gloucester City - Saturday January 18th, 2014 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic will host Gloucester City in a league clash. Gloucester are currently four places, and seven points behind seventeenth placed Celtic, although they have three games in hand on us. There will be a live match centre for this game.

Gloucester are one of only five teams below Celtic, currently mired in the relegation zone, although every team bar Workington could overhaul Celtic if they win their games in hand, making this a must win for Celtic. City are currently four points off safety, so for them too, this is a must win game.

Gloucester have won twice on the road this season, with a 1-0 win away at Leamington back in August, and most recently, their last away game was a 1-0 win over Worcester. They have also had two draws, a 0-0 draw at Barrow in September being their third clean sheet on the road. City have also had three wins at home, including two impressive wins over Hednesford (5-1) and Altrincham (2-0). After two wins, two losses and two draws in the opening six games, Gloucester were sitting mid-table, but a run of twelve games without a win saw them slide down the table touching bottom. Two remarkable home wins over Hednesford and Altrincham lifted Gloucester out of the relegation zone, but one win in the last five has seen them back in the mire again.

Gloucester's last visit to Bower Fold was in April at the end of last season, when Celtic won with a comfortable 4-0 score-line, with two goals from Mitch Austin and one each from Tom Buckley and Chris Hall. Gloucester's last win over us was in the same season, which finished 4-3, with a 90th minute winner from Tom Hamblin giving the points to Gloucester. Gloucester's best result at Bower Fold was in September 2011, when they grabbed a late equaliser to end the game 2-2. This game is the only point that they have picked up here in 4 visits, with their other two visits ending 4-3 and 4-1; meaning Celtic have three times put four past Gloucester at Bower Fold.

Gloucester have an almost full squad to choose from with Tom Webb the only doubt ahead of the Celtic clash. In their last match, the 3-2 defeat at home to Bradford Park Avenue, Gloucester lined up as:
1. Mike Green
2. Michael Green
3. Marcus Giglio
4. Matt Coupe
5. Jack Harris
6. Lewis Hogg
7. Joe Parker
8. Darren Mullings
9. Darren Edwards
10. Scott Wilson
11. Matt Groves

Celtic will be without Lewis Hatch through injury, and Obi Anorou will have to be assessed after being taken off against Harrogate due to a recurrence of his foot injury. Debutants in the Harrogate game, Jordan Tunnicliffe (no relation to James, apparently) and Danny East are replacements for James Tunnicliffe and Dave Stevenson, and will be challenging for a starting place. Andy McWilliams will also be assessed ahead of the game, after limping off with a hamstring. Celtic currently have no suspensions, and in our last match, the 2-1 away defeat at Harrogate, Celtic lined up as:
1. Danny East
2. Kelvin Bleau
3. Andy McWilliams
4. Jordan Tunnicliffe
5. Joel Bembo-Leta
6. Callum Warburton
7. Paul Ennis
8. Keith Briggs
9. Obi Anorou
10. Sean McConville
11. Tom Buckley

Celtic need the points on Saturday, and a win could take us to fourteenth, whilst a loss could see us drop to one place above the relegation spots, with surprising results in the Telford v Barrow game, and the Oxford v Altrincham (both of which are very possible). Other games on Saturday are:
AFC Telford (45pts 3rd) v Barrow (25pts 18th)
Boston United (40pts 7th) v Solihull Moors (43pts 5th)
Bradford Park Avenue (31pts 12th) v Hednesford Town (46pts 2nd)
Gainsborough Trinity (27pts 15th) v Workington (14pts 22nd)
Guiseley (32pts 10th) v Stockport County (26pts 16th)
Leamington FC (31pts 11th) v Harrogate Town (36pts 9th)
North Ferriby United (48pts 1st) v Histon (27pts 4th)
Oxford City (23pts 19th) v Altrincham (43pts 4th)
Vauxhall Motors (29pts 13th) v Brackley Town (41pts 6th)
Worcester City (20pts 20th) v Colwyn Bay (36pts 8th)

Match Sponsor
S Williams & Son
Ball Sponsor
Rupert Wood/John Simpson
Man of the Match Sponsor
Minstrell Recruitment
Programme Sponsor
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