On Saturday, Celtic are at home to face Whitby. Whitby are currently twelfth on thirty-six points, directly below Celtic and only three points behind us with a game in hand. There will be a match centre and Twitter feed for this match.
Whitby's recent away record has seen them lose the last three, 3-1 at Farsley, 2-0 at Buxton and, most recently, 5-2 at South Shields. Their last away win was at Hednesford Town at the start of December, when they won 2-1. Prior to that, they have beaten Workington (2-1), but you have to go back to the start of the season to find their other away wins over Matlock (3-0) and North Ferriby (1-0). Their home form is good, beating both Scarborough and Gainsborough at home, before thrashing North Ferriby 6-1. They have never lost on the road when level at half time, something for Celtic to bear in mind!
Whitby's thirty-nine goals have come from thirteen different scorers at a rate of 1.4 goals per game, split more or less equally between home and away. Dale Hopson is their lead scorer with nine of the goals. They have failed to score in three away games, all but one resulting in defeats. Defensively, they have conceded forty-two goals at a rate of 1.5 goals per game, with twenty-nine of them coming away from home at a rate of 2.1 goals per game. They have kept three clean sheets, only one of which resulted in a draw. They have a strong record of scoring early, doing so in six games this season; early on this resulted in them winning, but in the last three times they have scored inside ten minutes, they have gone on to lose. They're weak around the half hour mark, and in the last fifteen minutes, as well as a rogue blip around the fifty minute mark, conceding five goals in that short spell.
Our last game against Whitby was earlier this season when we visited in the league, losing 2-1 in September, although Celtic missed a penalty and had a perfectly good goal disallowed, leaving just Ross Dent's goal on the board. Last season, they visited at the start of October, with Celtic winning 3-1 thanks to goals from John Cofie, Ross Killock and Liam Dickinson. In their last six league visits, Celtic have won 3, Whitby have won 2 and there was a single draw, back in 2000 when the game finished 1-1.
In their last match, the 2-5 away defeat to South Shields, Whitby lined up as:
1. Jack Norton
2. Kieran Weledji
3. Jassem Sukar
4. Adam Gell
5. Daniel Rowe
6. Alex White
7. Leon Scott
8. Dale Hopson
9. Ashley Coffey
10. Callum Patton
11. Greg Rutherford
In the Celtic's last match, the 1-1 away draw at Buxton, Celtic lined up as:
1. Paddy Wharton
2. Douglas Nyaupembe
3. Nathan Heath
4. Greg Wilkinson
5. Chris Smalley
6. Olly Marx
7. Scott Bakkor
8. Glen Rule
9. Dan Cockerline
10. Ross Dent
11. Michael Howard
Josh Solomon-Davies, Scott Wilson, Jack Taylor and Elliott Cooke are all still doubts for the weekend, with Michael Clarke and Liam Tongue both carrying niggles, but could be fit.
A win for Celtic could see Celtic move up to eighth, with Matlock hosting Basford, one or both will drop points. Also catchable are Buxton (away at Witton) and Hyde (away at Hednesford). Whitby are the only team who can catch us if we lose. Should Whitby win, we would swap places on goal difference.
