Blyth Spartans host York City on Wednesday evening – Michael Nelson’s side first game since finishing their self-isolation period.
It will be exactly 17 days since Spartans last kicked a football when the promotion favourites arrive at Croft Park.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game:
INJURY NEWS
Liam Agnew remains out, while Olly Scott returned to training on Monday ahead of schedule but won’t feature against The Minstermen.
Both Kris Thackray and Panos Katsamagkas are touch and go.
THE OPPOSITION
Having been hit by a Covid-19 shutdown twice this season, Steve Watson’s men have played the joint-lowest number of fixtures alongside Boston United with 5.
The Ministermen returned from an 18-day break on Saturday and were caught cold with a 2-1 defeat at Leamington.
Indeed, that inflicted a first league loss of the campaign on York, who had previously beaten Chorley and Southport, while drawing with Farsley Celtic and Brackley Town.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
Blyth Spartans manager Michael Nelson got the players together for a training session on Monday. He said: “The players really took on board what we’re trying to do, now it’s just a case of putting it into the game.
“York had a game on Saturday, so they’re ahead of us in that respect but they’ve missed a few games themselves through isolation.
“It is one of those things, I think it is going to happen time and time again over the course of the season – it’s just something everyone has to deal with.
“We’ve prepared as well as we can given the circumstances.”
You can Nelson’s full pre-match preview on BSAFCTV here.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
York City manager Steve Watson bemoaned his side’s slow start to their 2-1 defeat to Leamington on Saturday – and challenged his players to put that right at Croft Park.
He told the club’s YouTube channel: “We’ve got no time to sulk about it.
“We’ve got a couple of days before we have another away game and we need to make sure we do to Blyth what Leamington did to us by starting the game very well against a team coming in with very little training and make that count.”
He added: “We expect on Wednesday to start the game a lot brighter.”
LAST TIME WE MET
The two sides last met in August 2019, where York City ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Kallum Griffiths, Alex Kempster and Kieran Green.
Spartans: Harker, Evans (Nearney, 88), Callaghan (Sweet, 45 (Fenwick, 57) Robson, Devitt, Hutchinson (C), Wrightson, Spooner, Pearson, Orrell, Scott. Subs not used: Dale, Mouanda.
York City: Jameson, Griffiths, Ferguson, Newton, McNulty (C), Tait, Moke, Bond (Dyer, 62), Burrow, Green, Kempster (Langstaff, 62). Subs not used: York, Spratt, Whiteley
50/50 HALF-TIME DRAW
Supporters wishing to take part must do the following:
- Transfer £1 for each entry to the Club’s bank account. (Sort code: 30-95-76. Account No: 01912440)
- Enter 50/50 as the reference.
We will accept entries up to the referee’s half-time whistle.
The draw will be made at half time and announced during the second half of the match. It will also be posted on the website and social media.
The cash prize will be made by bank transfer.
MATCH PROGRAMME
Issue #5 of our digital matchday programme SPARTANS is available to purchase now!
For just £1, you can read:
- The gaffer’s pre-match thoughts
- What happened on this day
- Spartans All Around the World
- Talking points
- Plus much, much more!
Programmes are available via our online club shop.
LIVE STREAM
Streaming passes are priced at £8, with both Blyth and York supporters welcome.
To watch, all you need to do is register with our streaming partner Insight4 – if you haven’t done so already – and purchase the game via the link below:
https://streaming.insightfour.com/stream/OE42Y0NH
Once purchased, you must visit the same link in order to access the game. If you already created an account, please sign in with your username and password.
Please be sure to keep a note of your login details as you will be required to log on with the same details to watch the match.
Our live coverage gets underway 15 minutes before kick-off, with commentary coming from Niall Bromley and Phil Castiaux.