It has been a disappointing month for The Greens, with three losses out of three, resulting in the team dropping to 18th in the UCL Division One table. A win against strugglers Shirebrook, however, could put them in good standing as February approaches.

In terms of the team news, Sleaford will continue to miss captain Jonathan Timmins tbis week. This means that Greens 'keeper Josh Wilson has been trusted to keep the armband for another week, something that is an honour for him. "The experience has been really enjoyable" he said. "I’ve known Matt [Evans] and Isaac [Wilinsky] for a while so I feel like they both understand the leadership qualities that I can bring to the team and thank them for that."

It has been a challenging past few months for the shot stopper, who has had to deal with a series of setbacks, but Wilson is now looking ahead to the remainder of the season. "I feel like since returning from injury hasn’t been the easiest with having two tough game to come back into, however I feel 100% fit which is the most important thing for now.

"My recovery process was definitely tricky with trying to come back sooner than I should have done and having to pull out of the warm up against Pinxton. But George [Pullen] has been fantastic and has really helped get back to full fitness, and I thank him for the soles of the recovery".

Focussing on the game against Shirebrook, Wilson expects a tough game, but thinks Sleaford can live up to the challenge. "We played them at our place earlier this season, so we can know what to expect from them. We know that they’re a big side and we’re going to have to be up for the battle if we’re going to go back to winning ways. I thought last week we were superb against a very strong side and we showed a lot of confidence, we have to have that confidence and belief going into to every game not just on Saturday!"

Opposition Focus

The last meeting between the two saw Sleaford secure a comprehensive victory at the PSZ Direct Stadium, running out 3-1 Winners in that tie. Ben Ashall, Callum Brown and Lewis Greenfield were the scorers that day, with the visitors pulling one back in the last minute of the match.

Since then, Shirebrook have continued to find life at step six challenging. A series of off-field issues tainted the beginning of the season, and have looked to affect the performances of the team further on into the campaign. Despite this, however, things have looked to be on the up for Town. Seven points in the last five and six in the last three have displayed that Shirebrook have much more to give for the rest of the season.

Key Details

Location: Langwith Road, Shirebrook NG20 8TF
Time: 3pm K/O
Pricing: Adults £5 | Concessions £3 | U16s Free | Programmes £1

Photo Credit: Sam Donner