FC Halifax Town v Eastleigh preview
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Shaymen’s last win at The Shay was when they beat Barnet 4-2 on September 21. Since then they have lost four and drawn one on their own patch.
Town have won just once in their last seven games, but recorded a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Woking last Saturday with 10-men after Nathan Clarke’s dismissal.
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Hide AdClarke will miss a Town game for the first time since joining the club when his ever-present record comes to an end through suspension.
Jack Redshaw and Liam McAlinden were rated at 50-50 earlier this week by Town boss Pete Wild to recover from injury in time for Saturday, but Jamie Allen is expected to be back in the squad after being away on international duty for Montserrat, for whom he played twice.
Experienced striker Scott Rendell is Eastleigh’s top-scorer with eight goals in all competitions, although winger Sam Smart (pictured) could also be a dangerman on Saturday.
He joined Eastleigh from Basingstoke Town in the summer but has had trials at Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday and is highly-rated.
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Hide AdThe Spitfires have only lost once in their last 12 matches in all competitions, and come into Saturday’s clash on the back of a 3-0 FA Cup replay with over Stourbridge on Tuesday (pictured). Their last league outing was a 4-2 home win over Harrogate, who host Halifax on Tuesday.
The Shaymen could go top if they win and the three teams above them all fail to win. Eastleigh are 16th in the table but have a game-in-hand over most of the sides above them.
Only four sides have conceded more away goals in the fifth tier than Eastleigh, but they have already won at Torquay, Solihull and Chesterfield this term. But they have only kept one clean sheet on the road this season, and that was against lower-league Welling in the FA Cup.
Eastleigh won 1-0 at The Shay last season, and have never lost at Halifax in five visits.
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Hide AdFollow all the action from the Shay on Saturday afternoon on our live blog at www.halifaxcourier.co.uk.
Saturday’s National League fixtures:
Chorley v Torquay
Dover v Solihull M
Wrexham v Yeovil
Aldershot v Notts Co
Barrow v Barnet
Halifax v Eastleigh
Hartlepool v Boreham W
Stockport v Ebbsfleet
Sutton Utd v Bromley
Harrogate v Chesterfield
Fylde v Dag & Red
Maidenhead v Woking