PREVIEW | Needham Market (A) FA Trophy
THE DETAILS
Needham Market v Wealdstone
Buildbase FA Trophy 3rd Round
Bloomfields
Saturday 18th December, 3:00pm kick-off
TICKETS
Tickets for the tie are priced at £11 Adults, £7 Concessions, £1 Children (12-16 years old) and FREE U12s and you can purchase yours right now by clicking HERE.
Cash and card payments are available on the turnstiles on the day, although the home side have advised that there will be a dedicated turnstile for those who have purchased online, this is to avoid bottlenecking near kick off.
The hosts expect a larger than average crowd at their Bloomfields ground and strongly advise fans to purchase in advance online to avoid lengthy queues.
In the event of a draw this tie will NOT go to a replay. FA Trophy ties for the 2021/22 season will be decided on the day via extra time and then penalties, if needed.
THE CONTEXT
Wealdstone begin their 2020/21 FA Trophy journey away to Suffolk-based Needham Market who reach this stage of the competition for the first time in their history. It will also be the first time the two clubs meet, with the Marketmen billing this fixture as the biggest the club has ever had. The hosts currently sit in 14th in the Southern League Premier Division Central table but after a slow start, have just one defeat in six. The Marketmen are also managed by former Manchester City and Northern Ireland midfielder Kevin Horlock. In the opposite dugout, Stuart Maynard will be hoping his side repeat the club's inner-1985 and go all the way to lifting the famous silverware at the end of the season at Wembley Stadium again.
TEAM NEWS
New loan signing Will Dennis is likely to continue to deputise in goal in the place of the suspended George Wickens. Connor Stevens made a return from injury in Saturday's marginal defeat to FC Halifax Town also. Craig Fasanmade was another to return to the squad on Saturday too, after his successful loan spell at Hemel Hempstead Town ended and Jaydn Mundle-Smith was another returnee to the squad, albeit did not make it on from the subs bench. Zach Dronfield is back at Hampton & Richmond Borough on loan. Andrew Eleftheriou, Medy Elito and Rhys Browne are all still out, whilst Nikola Tavares and David Sesay are the likeliest to return to action out of Stuart Maynard's injured players.
WHAT WAS SAID?
Stuart Maynard: "This is a competition that us as a management team want to go far in. It's a competition that realistically we can get to the final at Wembley and win it through being in the highest-ranked league in the competition. Needham Market are a team that have really picked up in the last six weeks and we'll do the same due diligence on them as we do to every team, we'll respect them but we will be going there to do a job. This is cup football now, performances don't matter, it's all about going there and getting a win."
FORM GUIDE
Stones:
FC Halifax Town (H) 0-1 L
Bromley (A) 3-2 L (Umerah, Cook)
Stockport County (H) 1-4 L (Jackson)
Dover Athletic (A) 2-3 W (Sweeney 2, Umerah)
Wrexham (A) 0-0 D
Needham Market:
Barwell (A) 2-3 W (Sturgess, Fowkes, Ingram)
Stourbridge (H) 1-3 L (Ingram)
Welwyn Garden City (H) 3-1 W (Ingram, Dye, Mpongo)
Royston Town (A) 3-3 D (Fowkes, Ingram, Mpongo) Tamworth (H) 1-0 W (Page)
WHO TO WATCH FOR?
Noah Collard: Collard is a product of Needham Market's academy and successfully migrated into the first team set-up under Kevin Horlock. The central midfielder earned himself the man of the match award in the club's historic win over Welwyn Garden City in the last round and has been touted by many at the Marketmen to make it into the EFL, where he has already been offered trials by a number of professional clubs. The hosts expect another energetic performance from the midfielder when National League Wealdstone come to Suffolk this weekend.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The two sides have never met before.
Preview by Chris Woods