Celtic are on the road again this Saturday looking to start a new sequence of wins and put Tuesday night?s defeat behind to Burscough them as we go to in-form Barrow (kick off 3pm). Barrow are currently eleventh in the league, six places and twelve points behind Celtic having played a game less. Please note, there will be no Live Match Centre for this game.
Barrow have only lost one game in their eleven, which has lifted them away from the drop zone after a poor start to the season saw them get within goal difference of the relegation places. Six wins in the last eleven games, with four draws have seen them steadily rise. They put their early season poor form behind them with a thumping 4-0 win over Telford, making them one of only two sides to put more than one goal past Telford.
In that eleven game period, Barrow have won their last four home games, against Telford, Burscough, Vauxhall and Gainsborough. Their away form has seen them win two (Vauxhall and Blyth), and get notable draws at Southport and Harrogate. They have scored twenty-seven goals and conceded twelve, showing a vast improvement from the first period of the season.
Their top goal scorer is Matty Henney on eight goals, though Nick Rogan is only just behind him on seven. This puts them at thirteenth and eighteenth respectively in the league goal scorers? chart. On average, Barrow score 2.1 goals per game at home (1.7 overall), whilst conceding a goal per game (1.2 overall). They score their first on average in the 29th minute, and concede in the 44th. Their most vulnerable period is just after the hour mark, with eight of their conceded thirty goals in this period, whilst their score fairly consistently throughout a match, notching forty goals this season. Six of those forty goals have come from the spot, making them this season?s penalty kings in the league.
Our previous meetings with Barrow have seen Barrow generally the victors. Our last win at Holker Street was back in the opening of the 2003/04 season, when we won 2-0. Over the past twenty years, Barrow have won five of the encounters, and drawn three. They also have a good record at Bower Fold against us, losing five of the ten encounters there, drawing two and winning three. Our last meeting was earlier this season at Bower Fold, when Barrow held us to a 2-2 draw with a second half penalty and a late own goal to snatch the points after Mark Haran and Chris Hall had put Celtic two up. Last season, Barrow did the double over us, beating us 4-0 at Bower Fold and 2-1 at Holker Street.
Barrow have recently signed Mark Boyd from Irish side Sligo Rovers, with Chris Butler going the other way. James Scales is suspended for the match, after picking up a red card in their 4-1 win over Gainsborough. In their last league match, the 2-2 draw away at Harrogate, Barrow lined up as:
1. Tim Deasy
2. Lee Woodyatt
3. Ryan Elderton
4. Paul Jones
5. Steve McNulty
6. Matt Henney
7. Andrew Bond
8. James Scales
9. Jason Walker
10. Nick Rogan
11. Chris Thompson
Celtic will be without Ashley Winn for the match, as he starts a two match ban for accumulated cautions. Steve Payne will have to be assessed ahead of the match after his knock, whilst Barrie Keeling will definitely not be playing, as he is out with a broken arm. In Celtic?s last match, the 4-2 defeat at home to Burscough, Celtic lined up as:
1. Paddy Gamble
2. Ashley Woolliscroft
3. Andy Smart
4. Garry Burke
5. Ashley Winn
6. Paul Sykes
7. Lee Ellington
8. Terry Barwick
9. Chris Hall
10. Matty Barlow
11. Alex Meechan
Celtic?s away record this season has been very good, and we have won our last five away matches, including our last away match away at Kettering. Celtic may have lost our last game, but hopefully that?s just a blip and the team can return to the kind of form that has propelled into the play-off spots. We?re here now, and to stay here, we need to win matches. Another run like the last one would do our promotion hopes the world of good.
