On Saturday, weather permitting, Celtic travel across Cheshire to face Congleton Town. Congleton are currently seventeenth in the table on twenty-eight points, twenty-two points and eleven places below Celtic. Kick off 3pm.

Nobody has drawn more home games than Congleton this season, with seven drawn games to add to four wins and three losses. Their last home win was over Sporting Khalsa back in December, with two home draws and a loss since then, and you have to go back to the start of November for their previous home win over Wythenshawe. Their last home game saw them get a goalless draw with Newcastle Town in mid-January. This has left them in the bottom third all season, reaching no higher than sixteenth.

Max McCarthy is their top scorer with ten goals this season, with Ebou Badjie way behind on four. They have the sixth lowest home scoring record, but the seventh best home defensive record. They have scored nineteen of their thirty-seven goals at home at a rate of 1.4 per game (1.3 overall), whilst conceding seventeen of their fifty-two goals at home at a rate of 1.2 per game (1.8 overall). Overall they have the fourth worst defensive record in the league this season, but have kept five of their seven clean sheets at home, failing to score four times at home and four away.

Our meeting earlier in the season saw Celtic win 3-1, with Jordan Butterwprth, Benni Smales-Braithwaite and Max Leonard finding the goal in what was largely one way traffic. Last season, Congleton beat us both home and away, 2-0 at Bower Fold and 3-1 in our last visit to Congleton, Jordan Boon’s opener cancelled out by a collapse in the second half. Prior to these games, we’ve only met Congleton in cup competitions, four times in the Cheshire Senior Cup, in which Celtic won three and lost one, and once in the Unibond Cup (as was) which Celtic won 3-1. All our cup meetings have been in Congleton.

In Congleton’s last match, the 3-2 away defeat to Mossley, Congleton lined up as:
1. Dave Parton
2. Jack Bates
3. Owen Morris
4. Peter Williams
5. Shaun Brisley
6. Darren Chadwick
7. George Sankey
8. Ethan Hartshorn
9. Matthew Gillam
10. Matthew Liptrott
11. Kieran Knapper

In Celtic’s last match, the 2-2 home draw with Shifnal Town, Celtic lined up as:
1. Charlie Monks
2. Mike Koral
3. Kyle Brownhill
4. Aaron Chalmers
5. Jack Byrne
6. Jack Tinning
7. Jordan Butterworth
8. Liam Tongue
9. Ruben Jerome
10. Max Leonard
11. Ellis Horan

Both Charlie Doyle and Andy Scarisbrick should be available for Saturday’s game.

Celtic are three points behind third placed Bury (at home to Trafford), Avro (away at Clitheroe) and Vauxhall Motors (away at Bootle), and if results go Celtic’s way we could reach fourth, level on points with Bury. With Lower Breck (five points ahead) and Runcorn (six points ahead) playing each other, a draw would be nice. Bootle are level on points with us, so a loss for us and a win/draw for them would see us drop to seventh.