On Saturday (kick off 3pm), Celtic head to Lincolnshire to face Gainsborough Trinity. Despite being the league's in form team, Gainsborough are currently sixteenth in the league on thirty-five points, now only four points and eight places below Celtic, with three games in hand.Gainsborough are now eleven games unbeaten, with seven wins and four draws. Their last defeat was a 3-2 home defeat to Scarborough at the start of December. Their last home match was a 1-0 win over Basford at the start of February, making that three wins from three at home in their last three matches. Their most recent match was a 3-3 away draw with Buxton, racing into a three goal lead only for Buxton to pull it back. They are so low in the table because in October, they were bottom of the league and looking certain for relegation with only two wins in their opening eighteen matches.
Their change in fortunes coincided with losing their star striker, Ashley Worsfold, he has since been replaced at the top of their scoring chart by Simon Russell, who has six goals. Six different players have all found the net three times, this season, with goals coming from all over the pitch. On average they score 1.4 goals per home game and 1.6 overall, scoring eighteen in total at the Northolme, from forty-overall. Over half of those goals have come in the last ten matches. At the other end, they concede at a rate of 1.2 goals per game at home from 1.5 overall, conceding fifteen goals at home from forty-overall. They have kept six clean sheets, five at home and three in their last ten matches, most recently, their home game against Basford. Though they have failed to score seven times, five at home, the last time they failed to score was just before Christmas when Nantwich held them to a goalless draw at the Northolme.
Over the last thirty years, we've visited Gainsborough twenty-six times, putting them in contention for our most visited ground. Trinity have won eight of those encounters and Celtic seven, with eleven draws. In all those visits there was only ever one goalless draw, back in 2004. The last time we visited, in February last year, we lost 1-0, with Ashley Worsfold grabbing a late goal after Celtic had done everything but score. IT's been seven years since we won at the Northolme, when we won 2-0 thanks to Adam Pepper and Sean McConville. We've visited four times since then, with Gainsborough winning three of them.
Trinity's last match was the 3-3 away draw at Buxton. In that match they lined up as:
1. George Willis
2. James Williamson
3. Jamie Green
4. Kingsley James
5. Will Thornton
6. Nathan Stainfield
7. Nicky Walker
8. Michael Williams
9. Gregg Smith
10. Alex Wiles
11. Jordan Adebayo-Smith
In Celtic's last match, the 1-1 away draw with Stafford, Celtic lined up as:
1. Alex Fojtíček
2. Kallum Mantack
3. Scott Metcalfe
4. Max Taylor
5. Stephen O'Halloran
6. Chris Smalley
7. Adam O'Reilly
8. Patrick Lacey
9. Craig Hobson
10. Declan Walker
11. Jonathan Ustabasi
Ross Dent is unlikely to feature after picking up an injury. Scott Bakkor rolled his ankle against Gainsborough Trinity but after a ten day rest should be fit. Jon Ustabasi is back though, as is Craig Hobson.
There is a full fixture list, weather permitting, on Saturday, and Celtic desperately need to get their first win of 2020, against a team topping the form table. We are within three points of only Scarborough (at home to Bamber Bridge) who are on forty-one points. With only one win our last twelve, the cashing pack have caught up to Celtic, and seven teams are now within three points of us. Morpeth and Hyde play each other, Witton (away at Matlock), Whitby at home to Stafford, Mickleover (away at Lancaster), Bamber Bridge (away at Scarborough) and Radcliffe (at home to Buxton) could see us drop six places, should we lose!
