Match Preview :- Gloucester City - Saturday March 21st, 2015 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic's biggest game of the season sees Gloucester come to town for a 3pm kick off. Gloucester are currently two places and five points above Celtic. There will be a match centre for this game.

Gloucester's season has been almost as bad as Celtic's. They've spent quite a lot of time in the bottom three, but had a good start to 2015, pulling them out of the mire, though they are a mere two points above third from bottom Colwyn Bay. They had started to put some distance between them and the bottom spots, but three losses on the bounce have dragged them right back into the mire. Their last win was an impressive 2-1 away win at Chorley, but since then they have lost 7-1 at home to Oxford, 2-1 away loss at Harrogate and a 1-0 home loss to Boston. Apart from their early 4-1 away win at Guiseley, Gloucester have won away from home only three times, and each of these was in January or February. They also don't seem to draw away from home, at least recently, with their last away draw a 2-2 away at Oxford in August.

Gloucester's top scorer this season is Charlie Griffin who has nine goals, with Chris Jones right on his heels on seven. On average, they score far more away from home, 1.7 compared to 1.1 goals per game, with an overall average of 1.4. They also concede far more away from home, 2.3 compared to 1.4, with an average of 1.9 overall. They have only failed to score in 3 away matches, Barrow, Boston and Brackley, all of which they lost. Whereas they have only kept one clean sheet away from home, a 3-0 win over Lowestoft. On the road, both Stockport and Barrow put five past them, whilst they put four past Guiseley and Hyde, and had Leamington put four past them. They concede a lot around half time, and their most dangerous period is just after the half hour, which is surprising, as it's basically the only time they score in the first half.

Gloucester have no suspensions ahead of the game, but will likely be without Jack Harris and George Miller, who are injured, though they have bolstered the squad with Harry Williams and James Bowen on loan from Cheltenham. In their last match, the 1-0 home loss to Boston United, Gloucester started as:
1. Paul White
2. Michael Green
3. Billy Jones
4. Matt Williams
5. Sam Avery
6. Chris Knowles
7. James Bowen
8. Tom Webb
9. Harry Williams
10. Sahr Kabba
11. Ross Staley

Celtic will definitely be without management duo, Keith Briggs and Mark Atkins, with Scott Kerr and David Sullivan taking charge for the game, until a new manager can be appointed. Also missing will be Kelvin Bleau and Lewis King, who are both probably out now for the rest of the season. Jamie Allen sat out the last match with a slight groin strain, and will be assessed ahead of Saturday. In Celtic's last match, the 1-0 away loss at Bradford Park Avenue, Celtic lined up as:
1. Ross Etheridge
2. Sam Staunton-Turner
3. Nathan Heath
4. Matty Hughes
5. Stefan Galinski
6. Michael Potts
7. Ben McKenna
8. Scott Kerr
9. Tom Bentham
10. Paul Ennis
11. Matt Regan

To put it bluntly, Celtic won't be mathematically down if we lose on Saturday, but barring a miracle, we will be. It's that important. A win wouldn't lift us out of the bottom three, but it would bring teams back in reach.

There is a full schedule on Saturday, with the Brackley, Harrogate and Oxford games of particular interest to us:
AFC Fylde (70pts 1st) v Hyde (19pts 22nd)
Boston United (57pts 6th) v Gainsborough Trinity (38pts 16th)
Brackley Town (36pts 18th) v North Ferriby United (52pts 10th)
Harrogate Town (47pts 12th) v Colwyn Bay (33pts 20th)
Lowestoft Town (41pts 14th) v Guiseley (62pts 3rd)
Oxford City (55pts 7th) v Bradford Park Avenue (40pts 15th)
Solihull Moors (46pts 13th) v Leamington FC (37pts 17th)
Stockport County (53pts 9th) v Chorley (54pts 8th)
Tamworth (60pts 4th) v Hednesford Town (59pts 5th)
Worcester City (52pts 11th) v Barrow (70pts 2nd)

Match Sponsor
Rob & Debbie Gorski
Ball Sponsor
Brad Denny
Man of the Match Sponsor
The Torr Family
Programme Sponsor
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