Wealdstone v FC Halifax Town preview

Venue: Grosvenor Vale

Date: Saturday, January 27

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Michael Crusham has shown 10 yellow cards but no red cards in his five National League games this season, which include Town's 2-0 win at Ebbsfleet in October. This is his first season officiating at National League level.

Odds: Wealdstone win 11/8, draw,11/5 Halifax win 15/8

In the league this season

Wealdstone: 15th - PL25 W9 D6 L10 F34 A36 GD-2 Pts33

Halifax: 8th - PL28 W10 D11 L7 F32 A29 GD3 Pts41

Last five games

Wealdstone: Billericay (FAT h) W 4-1, Hartlepool (h) D 4-4, Maidenhead (a) W 2-0, Ebbsfleet (a) L 2-0, Chelmsford (FAT a) W 1-0

Halifax: Rochdale (h) D 2-2, Altrincham (a) W 2-1, Altrincham (h) D 0-0, Southend (a) L 3-0, Fylde (a) D 2-2

Scorers

Wealdstone: Adarkwa (8), Campbell (7), Bowen (6), Kretzschmar (4), Cook (4), Allarakhia (4), Ferguson (3), Smith (2), Mundle-Smith, Barker, Obiero

Halifax: Alli (7) Harker (4), Senior (4), Hoti (3), Cooke (2), Cosgrave (2), Thomson-Sommers, Evans, Cummings, Summerfield, Keane, Cappello, Golden, Wright, Hunter, Stott

Manager: After the departure of boss Stuart Maynard and his two assistants to Notts County, midfielder Alex Dyer was appointed as interim manager of The Stones. The 33-year-old is in his second spell at Wealdstone, having previously played for Northampton and Welling as well as in Sweden.

Last season: 13th in National League

One to watch: Attacking midfielder Max Kretzschmar was an eye-catching signing for Wealdstone when he joined from Woking last summer. He won Woking's player of the season and players’ player of the season awards in 2021/22. The midfielder netted six times last season in 30 National League games and is capable of creating and scoring goals at this level.

Head-to-head: Played 7, Wealdstone wins 2, draws 0, Halifax wins 5

Last time they met: Milli Alli scored the only goal as Town won 1-0 at The Shay in November.

Match facts: Only Southend have conceded fewer goals in the National League than Halifax (28), and only top two Bromley and Chesterfield have conceded fewer away goals than them (17)

Only leaders Chesterfield have lost fewer home league games in the fifth tier than Wealdstone (1)

Wealdstone have scored 17 goals in their last five home matches and have only failed to score twice in 13 home games this season.

Only three teams have scored fewer goals in the division this season than Halifax (32)

Halifax have conceded five goals in their last two matches having only conceded six goals in their previous eight games.

Saturday's National League fixtures:

AFC Fylde v Bromley

Aldershot Town v Rochdale

Altrincham v Eastleigh

Boreham Wood v Dorking Wanderers

Chesterfield v Southend United

Dagenham & Redbridge v Kidderminster Harriers

Gateshead v Barnet

Hartlepool United v York City

Maidenhead United v Solihull Moors

Oldham Athletic v Woking

Oxford City v Ebbsfleet United

Wealdstone v FC Halifax Town