Maidenhead United v Wealdstone - Match Preview

THE DETAILS

Maidenhead United v Wealdstone Vanarama National League York Road

Saturday 26th December, 3:00pm kick-off

HOW TO WATCH Due to Berkshire being placed into Tier 4 COVID restrictions, elite football being played in that area is required to be done so behind closed doors. Our hosts are streaming this fixture live and you can purchase your streaming pass HERE.

THE CONTEXT Just a point separates the part-timers of Wealdstone and Maidenhead United, with the Magpies in 10th and Wealdstone filling that final play-off spot in 7th. The Stones will be wanting to get one back over Maidenhead who knocked Wealdstone out of the FA Cup last season over two very tight fixtures, both sides were also in cup action last week with Wealdstone completing a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over Eastleigh in the FA Trophy, whilst Maidenhead narrowly knocked out in a 3-2 defeat away at Weymouth.

TEAM NEWS Stones have added three new additions to the squad this week in Matt Lench, Rhys Browne and Mo Diallo and Moses Emmanuel and Michael Phillips are also near a return to fitness. Dan Wishart completed his comeback from injury last week against Eastleigh and despite a slightly more bolstered squad the Stones will still be without Connor Stevens, Ross Lafayette and Danny Parish.

FORM GUIDE Stones: Eastleigh (H) 4-3 W (Wakefield, Cawley, Lewis, Mendy) Weymouth (H) 2-1 W (Lewis, Cawley) Barnet (A) 0-0 D Torquay United (H) 1-2 L (Parish) Notts County (A) 3-0 L

Maidenhead United: Weymouth (A) 3-2 L (Orsi-Dadomo 2) Torquay United (A) 2-1 L (Donnellan) Eastleigh (A) 0-1 W (Addai) Altrincham (A) 2-0 L Bromley (H) 2-2 D (Orsi-Dadomo, Donnellan)

WHAT WAS SAID Dean Brennan: "We have tough fixtures over this period and we have got to be on it every minute of every game, every tackle, every pass, we cannot afford to switch off. I tell the players we have to be consistent in the way we work and stick together."

WHO TO WATCH FOR? Sam Barratt: Barratt rejoined the Magpies in September after his impressive performances in his first spell with the club earned him a move to then EFL League One side Southend United. Although his move to the EFL didn't quite work out this time, he has hit the ground running this season and is the joint top-scorer in the league with nine goals in 12 games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Played - 47 Won - 14 Drawn - 9 Lost - 24

LAST FIVE MEETINGS October 2019 - Stones 0-2 Maidenhead United October 2019 - Maidenhead United 1-1 Stones (Lafayette) July 2018 - Stones 0-0 Maidenhead United July 2017 - Stones 1-1 Maidenhead United (Green) January 2017 - Maidenhead United 2-0 Stones

Preview by Chris Woods