Wealdstone and Kidderminster Harriers will face off in a crucial bottom-half battle in the National League at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts are currently just three points above the drop zone in the league standings, while the visitors are third bottom and two points from safety.
Match preview
Wealdstone will head into this weekend's fixture after having their three-match unbeaten league run (W2 D1 L0) brought to an end with a 1-0 home loss to promotion hopefuls Bromley in midweek.
That defeat to the Ravens, who played the majority of the match with 10 men, leaves David Noble in a nervy position as a loss this weekend could see the gap between his side and the dotted line erased if York City manage a win over at Hayes Lane.
In addition, while the Stones do have three games in hand on most of the sides around them owing to the repeated instances of flooding at Grosvenor Vale this season, two of their next three games are against teams fighting for playoff berths.
Therefore, three points against a bottom-three side will feel like a must for the Stones here, but that will require halting a four-match winless streak at home, which includes three defeats in a row leading up to this one.
Meanwhile, Kidderminster Harriers are already firmly in the dogfight for survival and have just six more games to find a way to avoid returning to the sixth tier of the English football pyramid.
The Harriers played out a third consecutive draw and fourth match without a win last weekend against Bromley, where their lack of attacking firepower became clearly evident once again with the match ending goalless.
While a point against the Ravens is not the worst outcome, it did little to alter the standings at the bottom of the table, aside from intensifying the competition and emphasizing the need for Harriers to start converting one point into three.
However, an improvement in results will rely heavily on their ability to find goals. With a meagre 34 scored in 40 matches this season, the Harriers are the only team in the division that have failed to average at least one goal per game up to this point; second-worst Woking have scored 42.
Perhaps Phil Brown's biggest concern, though, will be that his side only managed to take a point apiece against fellow bottom-half opponents York City and Flyde in their last three games, while their next three after this one are against Altrincham, Chesterfield and Halifax Town.
Team News
Wealdstone were dealt an injury blow in midweek, with Kyle Smith being forced off in the first half against Bromley, and he will remain sidelined for this match. Micah Obiero is the most likely to replace Smith in attacking midfield.
Max Kretzschmar and West Ham United loanee Sean Adarkwa were also brought off the bench in the last match, and the pair will be hoping to make the starting 11 this weekend.
Harriers made three alterations to their starting lineup in the previous match, seemingly trying to address their lack of attacking output with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas making his debut for the club alongside Gold Omotayo, while the team still included attackers Amari Morgan-Smith and Ashley Hemmings.
Having shut out the Ravens last week, Brown may be tempted to retain the back three formation from that match, with Hemmings and Alex Penny operating as wing-backs.
Wealdstone possible starting lineup:
Dewhurst; Mason, Cook, Mundle-Smith, Barrett; Barker, Obiero, Young, Bowen; Adarkwa, Duku
Kidderminster Harriers possible starting lineup:
Dibble; Penny, Richards, Pearce, McNally, Hemmings; Brown, Griffiths, Emmanuel-Thomas, Morgan-Smith; Omotayo
We say: Wealdstone 1-0 Kidderminster Harriers
Despite their recent dip in home form, Wealdstone have been fairly solid in defence and are likely to prioritise the clean sheet here against the league's worst attack. This could be a bit of a slow-burner, and we feel that the first goal could easily end up being the winner.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
