On Tuesday night, Celtic are at home to Mossley in the Manchester Premier Cup. Mossley are currently sixth in the league, two places and two points behind Celtic on fifteen points. Kick-off 7:45pm.

Having surged into second place with five wins from seven, Mossley have since lost their last three, dropping out of the top-five. Their five away matches this season have seen them lose four and win one. Their only win coming away at Northwich, beating 1874 3-1. Their last two away matches were against Liverpool and Clitheroe, losing 4-1 and 6-3 respectively. The 6-3 away loss to Clitheroe stands as the most goals scored in the league so far this season. Although they won their opening four home matches, they lost their most recent match 2-1 at home to Bootle, with top scorer Oumar Camara grabbing a stoppage time consolation.

Their away matches are more exciting than home, scoring nine of their fifteen goals and conceding fifteen of their eighteen goals while on the road. They have scored and failed to keep a clean sheet in every away match. On average they score two goals per away game and concede two goals per away game. Camara is the league’s joint top goal scorer. Joint on six goals with Celtic’s own Aaron Dwyer. Mossley are a strongly finishing team, scoring a quarter of their goals in the last five minutes. However, they concede most around the hour mark, with four of their eighteen goals conceded happening then. They have conceded an equal number in the first ten minutes, so a strong start from Celtic could reap dividends.

In the last thirty years, although we’ve played a lot of pre-season games against Mossley, we’ve only met them once competitively. In 2016, we lost 3-1 in Mossley in the Manchester Premier Cup. A sending off for Jack Higgins half an hour in, with Mossley scoring the penalty and a third in the second half. Between 1988 and 2000, we’ve met in the league eight times, with Celtic winning seven and Mossley one. Mossley’s last competitive win at Bower Fold was a 3-0 win in 1989, whilst Celtic’s competitive win over Mossley at Bower Fold was a 5-0 win in 1992.

In Mossley’s last match, the 2-1 home loss to Bootle, Mossley lined up as:
1. Christopher Thompson
2. Jack Grundy
3. Joseph Richards
4. Nicky Clee
5. Josh Dickin
6. Shane Killock
7. Kane Hickman
8. Mark Lees
9. Oumar Camara
10. Eden Bailey
11. Jack Banister

In Celtic’s last match, the 4-3 away win over Newcastle United, Celtic lined up as:
1. Luke Hewitson
2. Scott Wara
3. Jake Kenny
4. Michael Brewster
5. Greg Wilkinson
6. Jai Curran-Nichols
7. Brad Byrne
8. Jack Irlam
9. Matty Bryan
10. Max Leonard
11. Aaron Dwyer

Connor O’Grady is once again available, after serving his ban for his red card against Leek. Max Harrop missed the last match due to becoming a father for the second time.