Match Preview :- Harrogate Town - Tuesday September 17th, 2013 (19:45:00)

On Tuesday, Celtic take on Harrogate Town for the league clash (kick off 7:45pm). Harrogate are currently seventh, on thirteen points, having won four, drawn one and lost twice. They are nine places and 8 points ahead of sixteenth placed Celtic. There will be a match centre for this game.

Harrogate have already got a contender for highest home win of the campaign, having beaten North Ferriby 5-0, and have had a great start to their campaign. They have conceded four goals this season, keeping two clean sheets: one away at Telford, and one at home to North Ferriby. They have failed to score twice, in their most recent game on Saturday against Histon, and at the end of August away at Barrow, with both games finishing 0-1. They don't currently have a high-flying goal scorer, with their twelve goals coming from eight players, including two from twice former Celtic front man, Chris Hall.

Last season, Harrogate finished sixth, not an uncommon finishing place for the Yorkshire outfit. They had sixty-nine points from twenty-wins and nine draws, finishing seven places and seventeen points ahead of thirteenth placed Celtic. For the last couple of seasons, Celtic have slightly had the edge over Harrogate, with draws at their place (0-0 last season, 1-1 the season before) and wins at Bower Fold (1-0 last season, 3-2 the season before, with a last gasp winner from Connor Jennings). Harrogate's last win over Celtic was back in January 2011, when they beat us 2-0 at Wetherby Road, whilst their last victory at Bower Fold was the same season, the 10/11 season, when they won 1-0, scoring a penalty with their only shot of the game

Harrogate have no suspension worries ahead of the match, and may look to make some changes to their last match, which they lost 1-0 at home to Histon. In that match, Harrogate lined up as:
1. Craig McGillivray
2. Dwayne Samuels
3. Dave Merris
4. Adam Bolder
5. Leigh Franks
6. Shane Killock
7. Ashley Worsford
8. Anton Brown
9. Chris Hall
10. Michael Woods
11. Craig Nelthorpe

Celtic will be checking on the fitness of Lewis Hatch who missed the last two games, but otherwise are at full strength. In the last match, the 3-0 away defeat at Brackley, Celtic lined up as:
1. Matty Urwin
2. Kelvin Bleau
3. Andy McWilliams
4. Joel Bembo-Leta
5. Mark Lees
6. Kristian Platt
7. Tom Buckley
8. Callum Warburton
9. Obi Anorou
10. Sean McConville
11. Greg Wilkinson

Celtic have yet to win at home yet this season, and a desperately looking for three points on Tuesday night. It will be tough, Harrogate a good strong team, but a performance like that against Solihull in the second half could see Celtic record a third straight home win over Harrogate. A win for Celtic could lift us back to the top third of the table, whilst a loss could see us fall to just outside the relegation places!

There is a full match programme on Tuesday night. The other games are:
Barrow (5pts 18th) v Colwyn Bay (9pts 11th)
Gloucester City (8pts 13th) v Brackley Town (17pts 1st)
Guiseley (8pts 14th) v Bradford Park Avenue (9pts 11th)
Histon (14pts 6th) v Hednesford Town (16pts 3rd)
Leamington FC (5pts 17th) v Solihull Moors (15pts 4th)
North Ferriby United (13pts 8th) v Workington (7pts 15th)
Oxford City (3pts 21st) v Boston United (14pts 5th)
Vauxhall Motors (8pts 12th) v Stockport County (5pts 19th)
Worcester City (3pts 20th) v Gainsborough Trinity (3pts 22nd)

Match Sponsor
Marshall Kypriadis
Ball Sponsor
Sense Financial
Man of the Match Sponsor
Rob Gorski
Programme Sponsor
Programme sponsor
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0161 338 2828