BY Liam O’Brien
Blyth Spartans welcome Farsley Celtic to Croft Park on Tuesday night looking to make back-to-back wins in National League North.
Michael Nelson’s men claimed their first three points of the season at Curzon Ashton on Saturday but face a quick turnaround as Farsley travel to Northumberland.
The visitors themselves grabbed their first win of the campaign at the weekend following a last-minute winner against Gateshead.
THE OPPOSITION
Farsley Celtic currently sit 12th in the league after one win, two draws and three defeats from their first six games.
In their last game, they beat Gateshead 1-0 at home thanks to a 90th-minute strike from Jordan Richards.
Richards has been on the scoresheet in the last two games for Farsley and will be looking to do the same on Tuesday.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
Blyth boss Michael Nelson spoke after the 3-0 win at Curzon and said: “I’m delighted the lads were rewarded for their hard work but look, it’s one win.
“We can’t get carried away. We’ve got to follow it up and try and get a bit of momentum.
“I do hope the lads enjoyed that winning feeling because the more you enjoy it, the more you want it. Hopefully, we’ll have that feeling on Tuesday as well.”
Kris Thrackray added: “Like the gaffer said, we’ve got to take this feeling we’ve got now and roll on.
“We’re feeling confident. We’ve proved we can keep a clean sheet. We’ve proved we can be clini-cal – so let’s try and build some momentum.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Manager Adam Lakeland told Farsley’s club website: “It was an excellent win for them at Curzon. Blyth is always such a tough place to go, particularly in midweek. We know it is going to be a battle and be a real tough game.
“You’re not given anything against any team. You’ve got to earn every point you get in this league.
“You can’t look too far ahead and think: ‘You might pick up points here or there’, you just need to take it one game at a time and absolutely respect every single team the same as one another.
“That is exactly what we need to do on Tuesday because it’s going to be a difficult game but one now we go into with a lot of confidence and hope to keep this little run that we’ve started going.
LAST TIME OUT
The last match between the two sides at Croft Park was in November 2019.
Spartans won that day 2-0 with Robbie Dale and Callum Roberts getting the goals.
The return meeting at the Citadel in February also ended in a 2-0 scoreline but Spartans were on the wrong side of it.
MATCH PROGRAMME
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LIVE STREAMING
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Our live coverage will begin 15 minutes before kick-off as we build up the game, which kick-offs at 7:45pm.