On Saturday, Celtic welcome Lower Breck for the second time this season. Lower Breck are currently fifth in the table, one place and one point behind Celtic. Kick off 3pm.

Last time the two teams met, Breck were flying high, recently promoted, and on a phenomenal run. They went on to lose twice in their opening twenty-five games, taking them to mid-January. In their last ten games since mid-January, Breck have lost six and drawn one, seeing them slide away from top spot to fifth. They beat Wythenshawe at home and Khalsa away, but were most recently beaten on the road by bottom club Trafford, 4-0. Their previous two away games to Khalsa were also losses, 4-3 by Witton and 1-0 by Darlaston. Early season form means that have still won more away matches and scored more away goals than any other team. Recent form has seen them drop to ninth in the form table, though they are still fourth in the away form table.

Overall, they have the third best attack in the league behind us and Vauxhall. In Sam Burns they have the league’s joint top scorer on nineteen, with Lewis Buckley not far behind on eighteen, and Alex Cherera chipping in with double figures too, on fourteen. They score an average of 2.4 goals per away game (2.1 overall), and concede 1.8 goals on the road (1.6 overall). They’ve failed to score three times on the road this season, two of them in their last three away games. They have also kept three away clean sheets, from five in total. They are late finishers, with twenty-one goals in the last fifteen, though only three times has that changed the result.

Our last meeting at Bower Fold saw Celtic bow out of the FA Trophy at the first hurdle, when Lower Breck won 3-0, cantering past Celtic into the next round. Our only other meeting was in Anfield when we lost 2-1, with Jordan Butterworth’s opener cancelled out by two goals before the Celtic faithful had stopped cheering.

In Lower Breck’s last match, the 4-0 away defeat to Trafford, Breck lined up as:
1. Patrick Wharton
2. Liam Morris
3. Danny McKenna
4. Michael Fitzgerald
5. Jordan Barrow
6. Connor Millington
7. Nathan Corness
8. Connor Murphy
9. Lewis Buckley
10. Sam Burns
11. Paddy Kay

In Celtic’s last match, the 3-1 away win over Bootle, Celtic lined up as:
1. Charlie Monks
2. Mike Koral
3. Kyle Brownhill
4. Aaron Chalmers
5. Charlie Doyle
6. Jack Tinning
7. Andy Scarisbrick
8. Liam Tongue
9. Ruben Jerome
10. Jack Irlam
11. Ellis Horan

If results go Celtic’s way on Saturday, Celtic could reach second, with Runcorn (at home to Wythenshawe) level on points and Avro (away at Chasetown) a point ahead, though Avro still have two games in hand on the top nine. If results go against us, we would swap places with Breck, with Vauxhall (away at Khalsa) four behind. Motors will be rooting for a Celtic win, as they can overtake Lower Breck to get back into the top five.