Blyth Spartans are set to face Chester on Saturday at Croft Park for the first time in just under a month, which is also the final action of football before Christmas Day.
Graham Fenton’s side lost 3-0 away to Alfreton Town in their last fixture which has left The Spartans four points above the relegation zone.
TICKET INFORMATION
You can buy tickets with cash or card at the gate on the day or online here. All ticket information is as follows:
- Adults – £15 standing
- Concessions (over 65) – £9
- 11-16 Years & Students – £6
- Under-10s are admitted for free when accompanied by a paying adult.
To be seated in the Port of Blyth main stand, an extra £2 cost will be incurred for each category.
TEAM NEWS
The fitnesses of Harry Arnison, JJ Hooper, Lewis Knight, Jordan Hickey and Alex Mitchell are varied individually with no set date for a return to action.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
After a defeat on the road to Alfreton Town, Graham Fenton said: “It’s a difficult one, another disappointing away day.
“Full apologies to the supporters who have travelled to watch that because ultimately you’ve got one team who are effective at home and fully committed and what you’ve got to do is have 11 players on the pitch who are also fully committed and unfortunately we didn’t.”
OPPOSITION
The Seals were founded in 2010 following the liquidation of Chester City earlier that year, the seals started out in the Northern Premier League Division One North and have made it as high as the National League, but have resided in the National League North since 2018.
Calum McIntyre, the former Chester academy head coach, took charge of the first team at the start of last season and finished in a respectable third, losing in the playoff semi-finals to Brackley Town.
In their last outing, the Seals made it six games unbeaten as they were held to a goalless draw with Boston United.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Following a goalless draw with Boston United, Calum McIntyre said: “We set up to win at home, we’ve done that for pretty much as much as we have in the last five years as I was reminded off last week.
“And today we’ve fallen short realistically because we haven’t put the ball in the net. We had two massive opportunities in the first half as the goalkeeper made an unbelievable save from a header and we had one cleared off the line at the end.
“That’s why the result was the way it was.”
LAST TIME WE MET
The sides met at the Deva Stadium in September seeing Chester win 2-1 as Elliot Whitehouse’s 90th-minute penalty allowed the Seals to clinch three points in the final stages of the game. This has left Blyth winless in their last five trips to Chester.
The last Blyth time won against the Seals was back in August 2018 in a dramatic 8-1 win, featuring seven different Blyth goal scores that day.
MEDIA COVERAGE
You can follow all of the action on Saturday afternoon via our social media platforms and BlythLive on Mixlr from 2:45 pm.