Match Preview :- AFC Fylde - Saturday April 8th, 2017 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic face table topping Fylde. Fylde are nine points clear at the top of the table on seventy-eight points, fifty-five points and twenty places above Celtic. There will be a match centre and Twitter for this match.

There is no question that Fylde are the hot favourites for this match. They have been topping the table in the automatic promotion spot for all bar five weeks of the season, and have been top since September. They have lost just five matches this season, most recently a 4-1 away loss to Nuneaton, though they followed this with a 4-1 defeat of Darlington in their most recent match. In their last ten matches, they have had four draws, two losses and four wins. In their last five away matches, they have had two losses two wins and a draw. They have this season's league record for the most goals in a match when they thrashed Boston United 9-2.

In Danny Rowe, they have the league's top scorer, who has forty-four goals and is two goals off the all-time record for top goal scorer in the Conference North, set by Damien Reeves of Altrincham in the 11/12 season. Fylde are also on ninety-nine goals scored at a rate of 2.7 per game (2.6 away), so will be looking for their one hundredth. They have conceded fifty-five goals at a rate of 1.5 per game (1.8 away). They have failed to score in just two away games all season (four overall) and have kept two clean sheets on the road (five overall).

Fylde have been to Bower Fold twice, their last visit was a 1-1 draw, almost to the day last year, Matty Hughes's scissor kicked goal cancelled out midway through the second half by Sam Finley. Their previous visit in the season before was a 3-0 win for Celtic, with Ben McKenna, Aidan Chippendale and Liam Dickinson all scoring in a six minute period. It's a different story away, where Celtic have not even managed a goal at Fylde, conceding thirteen without reply.

Fylde's last match, the 4-1 win over Darlington, saw Fylde line up as:
1. Rhys Taylor
2. Casper Hughes
3. Josh Langley
4. Dominic Collins
5. Tom Kennedy
6. Andy Bond
7. Sam Finley
8. Bohan Dixon
9. James Hardy
10. Dan Bradley
11. Danny Rowe

Celtic's last match was the 2-0 away win over Alfreton, in which Celtic lined up as:
1. Grant Shenton
2. Danny Morton
3. Danny Wisdom
4. Matty Hughes
5. Adam Mather
6. Aaron Chalmers
7. Kieran Dunbar
8. Darren McKnight
9. Andy Bishop
10. James Roberts
11. Danny Pilkington

The Celtic defender curse has struck again, with Matt Regan missing the last two matches, whilst Keano Deacon will miss the rest of the season after damaging a metatarsal.

Celtic are ten points behind fourth bottom Worcester with two games in hand over everybody. Even winning both games in hand would leave us four points adrift, and with only seven games left, survival is mathematically possible but highly unlikely, especially as our run in consists of three of the top five, and eight to eleven.

Other matches this weekend:
Altrincham (22nd 17pts) v Brackley Town (8th 60pts)
Boston United (15th 43pts) v AFC Telford (16th 40pts)
Bradford Park Avenue (17th 40pts) v FC United of Manchester (14th 47pts)
Darlington (6th 64pts) v Tamworth (9th 59pts)
FC Halifax Town (3rd 68pts) v Alfreton Town (18th 40pts)
Gainsborough Trinity (20th 31pts) v Stockport County (7th 64pts)
Gloucester City (10th 58pts) v Kidderminster Harriers (2nd 69pts)
Harrogate Town (11th 54pts) v Salford City (4th 67pts)
Nuneaton Town (13th 47pts) v Chorley (5th 66pts)
Worcester City (19th 33pts) v Curzon Ashton (12th 48pts)

Match Sponsor
Brother UK
Ball Sponsor
Ball sponsor
required
0161 338 2828
Man of the Match Sponsor
Man of the Match sponsor
required
0161 338 2828
Programme Sponsor
Programme sponsor
required
0161 338 2828