Match Preview :- Salford City - Tuesday February 14th, 2017 (19:45:00)

On Tuesday night Celtic host Salford City in the Manchester Premier Cup semi-final (kick-off 3pm). Celtic got to the final last year when we were beaten 3-1 by Mossley. Salford also got to the final, in 2013, when they lost to Mossley on penalties. There will be a Match Centre and Twitter feed for this game.

Salford are currently flying in the league, sitting in thid place, on fifty-three points, thirty-eight points and nineteen places higher than Celtic. They spent the early part of the season in the top five, topping the table at one point after a ten game unbeaten run, before they went on a winless streak of seven games that saw them fall out of the play-off spots. Since then, they have won ten, lost twice and drawn three of their league games, and progressed in the Manchester Premier Cup at the expense of Hyde and Irlam. Salford went out of the FA Cup in the third qualifying round at the hands of Stockport County (the other SCFC in this division), and exited the Trophy in comprehensive fashion at home to Harrogate in December.

Salford's away league form is won seven, drawn three and lost five, whilst their home form is won eight, drawn five and lost only once. Their top scorer is Mike Phenix with thirteen, and they have had fourteen different scorers creating their sixty goals this season at a rate of 2.1 per game. They have conceded thirty at a rate of a goal per game (1.2 away). They have kept fourteen clean sheets and failed to score twice.

We've only met once competitively in recent years, losing 4-0 this season at Bower Fold, in what was a perfectly reasonable score line on the balance of play.

Salford have won three of their last five games, with an impressive 5-0 home win over Fylde. In their last three away games though, they have won once and lost twice, losing to Gloucester (3-2) and Halifax (4-2). In their most recent match, the 3-2 away loss to Gloucester, they lined up as:
1. Jay Lynch
2. Michael Nottingham
3. Patrick Brough
4. Scott Burton
5. Steve Howson
6. Billy Priestley
7. Jordan Hulme
8. Brad Barnes
9. Mike Phenix
10. George Green
11. Josh Hine

Celtic have won one, drawn two and lost two in our last five matches. Our home game was a 1-0 win over Halifax, since then there have been four away matches, including the 1-0 loss that was really a 1-0 win in the Cheshire Senior Cup over Crewe. Our most recent match was the 3-1 away loss to Stockport. In that match, we lined up as:
1. Grant Shenton
2. Danny Morton
3. Adam Mather
4. Matty Highes
5. Danny Wisdom
6. Aaron Chalmers
7. Kieran Dunbar
8. Gary Gee
9. Sefton Gonzales
10. Danny Wilkins
11. Adam Morning

Grant Shenton will be missing due to being cup-tied in the Manchester Cup, whilst Fraser Horsfall should now be over his injury. The biggest change is off field for this match, when Steve Burr takes charge of his first game since 2009. Steve will be taking this opportunity to see how the team he has inherited plays, although a win would see Celtic get to their second successive Manchester Premier Cup final.

There are two other midweek league games going on this week:
Alfreton Town (30pts 16th) v Brackley Town (41pts 11th)
Boston United (32pts 15th) v Chorley (52pts 4th)

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