On Saturday, Celtic return to league action with a home match against Witton Albion. Witton are currently eighth in the league five places and two points behind Celtic. Kick-off is 3pm.

Witton have only lost one match so far this season, their last away match at Runcorn that finished 4-2 on bank holiday Monday. Their other two away matches were both draws, drawing 1-1 against Bootle and in their opening fixture, getting a stoppage time penalty to grab a 2-2 draw at Vauxhall. Witton have scored and conceded in every match so far this season, with eight different scorers, Joe Duckworth currently edging their scorer chart with three. Half of their goals have been conceded in the opening half hour of matches, whilst two thirds of their goals are scored in the second half. Witton are a strong finishing team. Their most recent match was a 3-2 home win over Hednesford, with another late penalty snatching all three points.

Last season, Witton finished just outside the play-off spots, in sixth, four points off fifth placed Runcorn. Only Macclesfield won more home matches than Witton, but their away wins kept them out of the top five. That said, they had the most number of away draws of any team in the league last season. They also had the second best defence in the leaguer, with only Macclesfield conceding fewer.

We’ve met Witton a lot over the years. This will be their fourteenth visit in the last thirty years. Their last visit finished 2-2, with Justin Johnson twice cancelling out Callum Saunders. Witton’s two visits before that saw them win them both, 2-0 and 5-0. Celtic’s last win over Witton at Bower Fold was in 2016, when we knocked them out of an FA Cup replay (the game finished 1-1 at Witton), with Matty Hughes and Andy Owens giving Celtic a two-goal cushion to stave off a late comeback. Our last league win over Witton at Bower Fold was in 1994!.

In Witton’s last match, the 3-2 home win over Hednesford, Albion lined up as:
1. Harry Wright
2. Mike Koral
3. Lee Jackson
4. Ben Harrison
5. Oliver Hitchcox
6. Cameron Fogerty
7. James Lawrie
8. Oli Roberts
9. Joe Duckworth
10. Elliot Rokka
11. Jack Sherratt

In Celtic’s last match, the 2-1 away win over Trafford in the Trophy, Celtic lined up as:
1. Luke Hewitson
2. Scott Wara
3. Lucas Cook
4. Brandon Newell
5. Jai Curran-Nichols
6. Greg Wilkinson
7. Aaron Dwyer
8. Joe Edwards
9. Matty Bryan
10. Max Harrop
11. Jordan Burton

Former Celts in the Witton team include Oli Roberts, who made over fifty appearances for Celtic and scored four times in the 2017/18 season. Also, Connor Hughes from the same period, and for those with a longer memory, Jack Sherratt once made two appearances from the bench for Celtic in 2014, when he was on loan from Leyton Orient.

It’s still early days in the league at the moment, and whilst a win could put us second if Clitheroe beat Avro, six teams are within three points of us, should we lose. Including Saturday’s opponents, Witton, who would leapfrog us if they win.