Why should I watch..?

To see if Witton can continue an improved run of results by beating opponents who are struggling badly after losing four of their past five Northern Premier League top-flight matches.

Carl Macauley’s men twice came from behind at Marine last weekend, when they won 3-2, and will climb above Hednesford in the table if they prevail again this weekend.

Albion are in good form away from Wincham Park, winning three of the past five Premier Division games on the road and losing only once – and that was at then leaders Scarborough Athletic early in October.

The Pitmen have found wins hard to come by at Keys Park, collecting maximum points on only one of their past six attempts.

Caretaker manager Francino Francis, who has been in charge since Rob Smith departed for Halesowen at the end of last month, has overseen three successive league defeats.

What they’ve said

“Our performance at Stafford [last weekend] wasn’t good enough and I certainly made sure that the players knew as much afterwards.

“We shall be looking to put that right with a good performance on the pitch against Witton on Saturday.”

Francino Francis, Hednesford Town caretaker manager

“We’re aware that Hednesford are going through a difficult spell, but they’ll be fired up to get a result after losing against their local rivals in their last game.

“It was a massive win for us at Marine in the circumstances; we’d lost Danny McKenna to injury before the game and the conditions were some of the worst I’ve ever seen for a match.

“We showed character though to dig deep and get a result.”

Carl Macauley, Witton Albion manager

Numbers game

Witton are unbeaten in their past four Premier Division fixtures – their longest sequence without defeat to date this season

Witton team news

Danny McKenna (ankle) is ruled out by an injury, while front man Delial Brewster (ankle) is another who isn’t fit to play.

Carl Macauley has everybody else to pick from, including Cesaire (groin), Will Jones (neck) and James Foley (ankle) – the latter duo after suffering no ill-effects from playing against Marine last weekend.

Nick Ryan (leg) is a longer-term absentee.

Form guide (past six league games)

Hednesford L L L D L W

Witton W D D W L W

Disciplinary

Hednesford Y60 R2

Witton Y41 R2

Last season’s meetings

Witton 3-0 Hednesford (March 31, 2018

Hednesford 1-0 Witton (October 7, 2017)

Last time at Keys Park

Hednesford 1-0 Witton: match report

Odds (SKY Bet)

Hednesford 6/5

Draw 12/5

Witton 17/10

Essential information

When Saturday, December 22

Kick-off 3pm                                         

Address Keys Park, Keys Park Road, Hednesford, Staffordshire WS12 2DZ

Admission Adults £11, Concessions £8, Family ticket (one adult and one child) £12

Parking Available at the stadium for £1