FC Halifax Town v Eastleigh preview

Venue: The Shay

Date: Saturday, September 14

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: William Davis has shown eight yellow cards but not red cards in two games this season. This is his first season officiating at National League level and he is yet to take charge of an FC Halifax Town game.

Odds: Halifax 23/20, draw 12/5, Eastleigh 23/10

In the league this season

Halifax: 15th - PL8 W2 D4 L2 F6 A6 GD0 Pts10

Eastleigh: 5th - PL8 W5 D1 L2 F12A 8 GD4 Pts16

Last five games

Halifax: Dag & Red (a) D 1-1, Solihull (h) L 1-0, Ebbsfleet (a) W 1-0, Hartlepool (a) D 0-0, Oldham (h) D 1-1

Eastleigh: Altrincham (a) W 1-0, Sutton (h) D 1-1, Gateshead (a) L 2-1, Tamworth (h) W 1-0, Southend (a) L 2-0

Manager: Former Premier League goalkeeper Kelvin Davis was appointed as Eastleigh's new manager to replace Richard Hill in February. Davis, who made over 600 professional appearances, including for Southampton, Wimbledon, Sunderland and Ipswich, had a brief spell at caretaker-manager at Southampton in 2018 but this is his first permanent senior managerial role.

Last season: 13th in National League

One to watch: Striker Paul McCallum is in his second spell with the Spitfires, having previously made 67 appearances for the club, scoring 35 goals between 2017 and 2019. He has a wealth of experience at this level, having also played for Chesterfield, Dagenham and Redbrdge and Solihull, and finished as the National League's top scorer last season with 31 goals.

Head-to-head: Played 19, Halifax wins 5, draws 6, Eastleigh wins 8

Last time they met: Adan George, Jamie Cooke and Max Wright scored as Town won 3-0 at Eastleigh on the final day of last season.

Match facts: Halifax have only scored one goal in the first half of a game this season.

Only Fylde's Nick Haughton has scored more goals in the division this season than Eastleigh's Paul McCallum, but all his goals so far this term have come at home.

Halifax are yet to keep a clean sheet in their five home games so far this season.

Eastleigh's defeat at Southend last time out was the first time they had failed to score in eight matches this season.

Saturday's National League fixtures:

Forest Green v Wealdstone Woking v Oldham Barnet v Braintree Southend v Sutton Utd Yeovil v Altrincham York v Fylde Boston Utd v Aldershot Ebbsfleet v Hartlepool Rochdale v Solihull M Halifax v Eastleigh Tamworth v Maidenhead Dag & Red v Gateshead