Match Preview :- Alfreton Town - Tuesday March 11th, 2008 (19:45:00)
Tuesday night sees Celtic host Alfreton Town in a rearranged fixture (kick off 7:45pm). Alfreton are currently fourteenth, ten places and twenty-one points behind Celtic having played a game less. There will be a live match centre for this match.

Alfreton recently ended a run of six games without a win and only two wins out of ten with a fine 4-0 win over Vauxhall Motors at home on Saturday. Their win prior to this was an excellent away win at Hyde, showing that Alfreton are no pushovers, and certainly should not be considered a banker result.

Though they lost their last two away matches 1-0 at Nuneaton and Hinckley, their manager, Nicky Law, seems intent on proving his credentials after a midweek rumour that he would be joining Bradford Park Avenue. He will be keen to continue this with a win on Tuesday and it will require another fine performance by Celtic to ensure that doesn?t happen. A win for Celtic would see them up to third in the table, with Harrogate not playing, only three points behind Telford, whom we are yet to play at Bower Fold.

Recent history suggests that the Automated Prediction Algorithm?s suggested result of 2-1 for Celtic is not unreasonable, as we have beaten Alfreton in our last four encounters, the latest of which was in January when Chris Hall bagged a personal haul of four goals to take the three points in a closely fought encounter. Alfreton?s last two visits to Bower Fold have seen them concede three in each, losing both games. Alfreton last won at Bower Fold back in 2004 at the start of the season, when Alfreton were topping the table and Celtic weren?t.

This season, Alfreton have beaten Tamworth, Harrogate, Hyde and Solihull on the road. Their top scorer is Brian Cusworth who has scored eight of their forty-three goals, closely followed by Danny Reet on seven. Alfreton?s strongest period is around the half hour mark, where they have scored ten goals this season, whilst their most vulnerable period is the opening quarter of an hour where they have conceded eleven of their forty-three conceded goals. On average they score 1.1 goals per game away (1.3 overall), and concede 1.3 goals per game. Their first goal comes on average at the 48 minute mark, whilst their first concession occurs at the 27 minute mark. They have kept four clean sheets this season on the road and eight overall, and have one of the best away defensive records in the league, conceding nineteen goals, one less than Celtic away, and not far behind Kettering (12), Telford (15), Nuneaton (17) and Harrogate (17). Those clean sheets all came consecutively, and give Alfreton the league?s longest run of clean sheets at four games. They also have the league?s longest goal drought at four games and at fifteen games, the longest scoring streak.

Alfreton do not have any suspension worries ahead of the match, though Danny Reet will require a fitness test ahead of the match after limping off in their 1-0 loss away at Nuneaton. In their last match, the 4-0 win over Vauxhall Motors, they lined up as:
1. Laurence Matthewson
2. Lawrie Wilson
3. Anton Brown
4. Matthew Wilson
5. Tony Butler
6. Steve Warne
7. Josh Law
8. Chris Walton
9. Paul Clayton
10. Matthew Glass
11. Chris Bowler

Celtic will be able to welcome back Paul Sykes from his two match suspension, and Barrie Keeling made it to the bench for Celtic?s 3-0 win at home to Workington, meaning manager Steve Burr will have something of a selection headache ahead of the match. In that match, Celtic lined up as:
1. Paddy Gamble
2. Ashley Woolliscroft
3. Andy Smart
4. Steve Payne
5. Terry Barwick
6. Garry Burke
7. Steve Torpey
8. Simon Garner
9. Chris Hall
10. Matty Barlow
11. Alex Meechan

With Celtic taking 55% of the points available over their last six home matches, and Alfreton taking 27% of the available points over their last six away matches, it would be hoped that Celtic can continue their recent good form, and extend their 100% record to five games going into Saturday?s crucial away match at Southport. This is a game Celtic can win, but it will require another good performance to do so.
Match Sponsor
HSBC
Ball Sponsor
Sunlight Services
Man of the Match Sponsor
HMG Paints
Programme Sponsor
Steve Tate
Andrea Bradbury