FC Halifax Town v Eastleigh preview

Venue: The Shay

Date: Saturday, January 8

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Aaron Jackson. Took charge of Halifax’s 0-0 draw at Barnet in October. Has shown one red card and 22 yellows in eight National League games this season.

Odds: Halifax win 21/20, draw 11/5, Eastleigh win 5/2

Season so far

Halifax: P26, W15, D6, L5, F44, A27

Eastleigh: P24, W11, D5, L8, F37, A33

Last five games

Halifax: Wealdstone (a) W 1-0, King’s Lynn (h) W 2-0, Bradford Park Avenue (FAT a) D 3-3 (won on pens), Chesterfield (a) D 1-1, Grimsby (a) D 1-1

Eastleigh: Aldershot (h) L 3-0, Solihull (h) D 0-0, Enfield (FAT h) W 5-0, Torquay (h) W 2-1, Weymouth (h) W 3-2

Scorers

Halifax: Billy Waters (13), Jordan Slew (8), Matty Warburton (6), Kian Spence (3), Jack Vale (3), Tom Bradbury (3), Kieran Green (2), Jesse Debrah, Martin Woods, Niall Maher, Tyrell Warren, Elliot Newby, Luke Summerfield

Eastleigh: Tyrone Barnett (5), Ben House (5), Tom Whelan (5), Harry Pritchard (4), Jake Hesketh (4), Daniel Whitehall (3), Andrew Boyce (2), Josh Hare (2), Christian Maghoma (2), Ryan Hill (2), Danny Hollands,

Manager: Ben Strevens played more than 150 games for Eastleigh, as well as playing for clubs including Barnet, Dagenham and Redbridge and Gillingham as a forward, and was given the job permanently in November 2018 after a spell as caretaker manager, and has guided the club to finishes of 7th, 17th and 9th.

Last season: 9th in the National League.

One to watch: Veteran striker Tyrone Barnett scored against Town last season and has five goals this season, including two in his last two games.

Match facts: Halifax will go top of the National League if they win.

Only Notts County have won more home league games in the division than Halifax (7).

No team in the fifth tier has won more games in the league this season than Halifax (12).

Only Maidenhead have scored fewer away goals in the National League than Eastleigh (5).

Last time they met: Tyrone Barnett’s second half goal settled a poor game as Eastleigh beat Halifax 1-0 in March.

Follow all the action from the game on Saturday with our live blog on the Courier website, where there will also be an on-the-whistle match report and post-match reaction from Town boss Pete Wild.

Saturday’s National League fixtures:

Torquay v Dag & Red

Dover v Notts Co

Bromley v Solihull M

Barnet v Altrincham

Aldershot v Maidenhead

Halifax v Eastleigh

King’s Lynn v Woking

Weymouth v Southend