Match Preview :- Atherton Collieries - Saturday March 26th, 2022 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic travel across Manchester to Atherton Collieries. Atherton are currently thirteenth on forty-four points, seven places and five points ahead of Celtic having played a game less. Kick-off is 3pm and tickets are available on the gate or online.

Atherton have won one of their last five away games beating Bamber Bridge 2-0, getting a goalless draw against Buxton, losing the other three. In their last ten they won two other games (FC United and Radcliffe), giving them eleven points from thirty. Their last two games were both at home and Atherton lost both, with Scarborough beating them 2-1 and Gainsborough beating them 1-0. From their seventeen games at home this season, they have won seven, drawn three and lost seven.

Atherton have the worst attack in the league, having scored twenty-nine goals this season, however this is down to their away scoring record, as four teams have scored fewer than their nineteen goals at home. At home they score 1.1 goals per game, but only 0.9 per game overall. They’ve failed to score in fourteen matches, with five of them at home. Defensively they have the sixth best home defence, conceding sixteen goals at home at a rate of 0.9 goals per game. Atherton’s defence has been strong this season, with only Stafford conceding fewer goals. Worrying for a Celtic, who have failed to score in over seven hours of football. Atherton have kept five clean sheets at home, two of them coming in their last five home matches, with eleven clean sheets in total. Matthew Gillam is their top scorer so far this season, on six.

We met Atherton already this season, when we beat them 1-0 at Bower Fold, with Raul Correia scoring on his debut to give Celtic the points. That has been our only win over Atherton, though we drew 1-1 in our last visit there in the curtailed season of 2020, when Will Goodwin scored his only goal for the club. In the 19/20 season, when the two teams met for the first time, Atherton got the better of Celtic three times, beating us 2-1 at Bower Fold, 3-0 in Atherton and 4-1 in the league cup.

Atherton’s last match, the 1-0 home defeat by Gainsborough Trinity, saw Atherton line up as:
1. Danny Taberner
2. Sky Sinclair
3. Gareth Peet
4. Niall Battersby
5. Clive Smith
6. Luca Defreitas-Hansen
7. Ethan Kershaw
8. Scott Sephton
9. Marcus Cusani
10. Jack Lenehan
11. Aaron Smith

In Celtic’s last match, the 1-0 home defeat by Mickleover, Celtic lined up as:
1. Grant Shenton
2. Douglas Nyaumpembe
3. Stephen Brogan
4. Sam Wedgbury
5. Kennan Quansah
6. Shane Killock
7. Josh Edwards
8. Charley Doyle
9. Raul Correia
10. Callum Harris
11. Justin Johnson

Connor Falls missed the last match as he was in international duty for Northern Ireland. He will be available for selection against Atherton.

Celtic are up against it on Saturday in desperate need of a win. With five losses and a draw, with two goals scored since our last win, away at Witton when we looked destined for a top half finish, Celtic have dropped into the bottom three. We are nine points clear of Witton and could rise three places with a win, it is so congested at the bottom. Basford (at home to Bamber Bridge) and Radcliffe (at home to Warrington) are within reach, whilst Hyde host Gainsborough meaning whatever the result at least one of them will stay above us, should we grab a vital three points – and they would be vital.

Directions
Distance: 24
Time: 40 minutes

Take the M60 to junction 15 and join the M61.
Stay on the M61 for 4 miles to junction 4 (A6, Atherton).
At the roundabout, take the first exit and then at the immediate second roundabout, turn right (exit 3) onto the A6.
After a mile, at the lights, turn left onto A579 Newbrook Road.
After 2 miles, turn left onto Bolton Old Road and then left onto Alderfold Road.
The ground is at the end of the road.