FC Halifax Town v Yeovil Town preview

Venue: The Shay

Date: Saturday, April 30

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Michael Barlow sent-off Jack Senior in Town's 1-1 draw at Notts County in February. That was his only red card in five National League games this season, in which he has shown 15 yellow cards. This is his first season officiating in the fifth tier. He also took charge of Halifax's FA Trophy game at Alfreton in January, which Town won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Odds: Halifax win 4/5, draw 23/20, Yeovil win 10/3

Season so far

Halifax: P46, W26, D9, L11, F70, A43

Yeovil: P47, W18, D13, L16, F53, A50

Last five games

Halifax: Solihull (h) D 0-0, Woking (h) W 2-1, Altrincham (a) D 1-1, Chesterfield (h) W 2-0, Southend (a) L 1-0

Yeovil: Barnet (a) D 2-2, King's Lynn (a) D 2-2, Aldershot (h) L 2-0, Weymouth (a) D 0-0, Stockport (h) W 2-1

Scorers

Halifax: Billy Waters (20), Matty Warburton (13), Jordan Slew (11), Kian Spence (5), Tom Bradbury (4), Jack Vale (3), Kieran Green (2), Niall Maher (2), Zak Dearnley (2), Luke Summerfield (2), Jesse Debrah, Martin Woods, Tyrell Warren, Elliot Newby, Jamie Allen, Gerry McDonagh, Aaron Martin

Yeovil: Tom Knowles (9), Charlie Wakefield (8), Adi Yussuf (8), Joe Quigley (7), Dale Gorman (5), Reuben Reid (3), Matt Worthington (2), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (2), Josh Neufville, Ben Barclay, Jordan Barnett, Alex Bradley, Lawson D'Ath, Olufela Olomola, Josh Staunton, Morgan Williams

Manager: Former Yeovil midfielder Charlie Lee, who also played for Peterborough, Gillingham and Stevenage amongst others, returned to the club as assistant manager to Darren Sarll in February, and took over as caretaker manager when Sarll left to join Woking. Lee has won one, lost one and drawn three of his five games in temporary charge, with last Saturday's win over league leaders Stockport doing his chances of getting the job permanently no harm at all.

Last season: 16th in the National League

One to watch: Luton loanee Josh Neufville is a popular player among fans and is in his second loan spell at Huish Park. Neufville has only played in the Football League Trophy so far for Luton, and has also been on loan at Solihull and Woking. He scored five goals in 31 league games on loan at Yeovil during the 2020-21 season, one of the few bright spots during a disappointing campaign, before he suffered a broken ankle in the penultimate match of the season at Altrincham last May. He rejoined The Glovers in March until the end of the season, and scored the winning goal against leaders Stockport last Saturday.

Match facts: Only Stockport County have won more National League games this season than Halifax (23).

No team in the National League has conceded fewer goals this season than Halifax (31), and no team has conceded fewer goals at home (10)

Halifax have won more home games in the National League than any other team this season (16)

Halifax are unbeaten in their last eight home games, keeping six clean sheets

Only three teams in the National League have scored fewer goals this season than Yeovil (40)

Twelve of Halifax's last 15 goals have come in the second-half of games

Halifax will be guaranteed a play-off place if they win

Yeovil have only lost once in their last eight away matches, scoring the first goal in five of them

Last time they met: Joe Quigley's first-half penalty was enough to earn Yeovil a 1-0 win over Halifax back in September.

Saturday’s National League fixtures:

Aldershot Town v Notts County

Barnet v Grimsby Town

Bromley v Chesterfield

Dover Athletic v Altrincham

FC Halifax Town v Yeovil Town

King's Lynn Town v Eastleigh

Torquay United v Maidenhead United

Wealdstone v Dagenham & Redbridge

Weymouth v Solihull Moors

Wrexham v Southend United

Stockport County v Boreham Wood