Preview - Bath City (A) - Saturday 7th December
Updated: Dec 7, 2019
Wealdstone begin the busy Christmas period with a trip to Twerton Park as the league leaders face Bath City in the National League South on Saturday afternoon.
The Stones have a six-point lead at the top of the division when they visit an in-form Romans, unbeaten at home since August.
Stones Manager Dean Brennan on Bath City: “Twerton Park is one of the toughest places to go within the division”.
Jerry Gill’s Romans currently house fifth place and have the best defence in the league, conceding 18 goals in 19 games; Bath have kept three clean sheets in their last four home games.
Brennan on breaking down Bath’s defence: “I think we have strengths in a lot of different areas, we spread our goals throughout the team.”
The player in-form for Bath City is midfielder Tom Smith. He’s netted five of his 10 goals this season in the last eight matches and has claimed the National League South’s Player of the Month award for November.
Smith’s midfield partner Frankie Artus is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the 3-0 demolishing of Dartford last weekend.
Another key player that’s suspended for this fixture is Wealdstone’s stalwart centre half Connor Stevens following his sending off in the 3-0 win against Concord Rangers last Saturday.
“He’s such a key player for us”, Brennan explained about Stevens. “That’s a major test for our group now with one of our main centre-halves suspended.”
Wealdstone’s player in-form is top scorer Ross Lafayette; the striker has netted twice since returning to the starting line-up two weeks ago.
Lafayette facing the best defence in the National League South may be one of his toughest tests so far since returning to the Stones in the summer.
Romans forward Andy Watkins is also basking in positive goalscoring form, earning a brace against Dartford while scoring three times in the last two games.
An on-the-whistle report will be available on the official Wealdstone FC website at full-time on Saturday; you can follow live updates on the official Stones Twitter feed from 3pm.
Preview by Dec O'Reilly
Full quotes from Dean Brennan HERE