Aldershot Town will be going in search of six points over the next four days when they face Macclesfield Town and then Lincoln City (on Tuesday evening) and having secured draws on the road against Chesterfield and Morecambe in the last week, victory at home will continue to fuel the belief that the revival is well and truly underway.
Two home victories, three away draws and just one away defeat since taking charge has certainly reignited the players' passion at the EBB Stadium, but there are no easy games in League Two and the Silkmen will certainly pose their own problems for the home side.
Looking to claw themselves away from the lower reaches of the table, the visitors will be searching to distance themselves from the relegation dog-fight which will develop in the coming weeks and although they have only managed to register three draws out of their last ten games, a repeat of the comfortable 2-0 victory they inflicted over The Shots back in November would be more than welcomed by Simpson’s men.
Aldershot enter the match in 15th place in League Two with 34 points from 28 games, while the Silkmen are 21st in the table, with 28 points from 26 games.
Shots Team News
Dean Holdsworth takes charge of his seventh game in charge of The Shots this Saturday afternoon, and although there’s only an outside chance of reaching the play-off spaces before the end of the season, the buzz has certainly returned to the Aldershot camp along with entertaining football and along with it, the sense that nothing’s impossible.
”The players are looking forwards to it, I’m looking forwards to it and I hope the fans are.
”My big challenge is to get 4000 fans through them turnstiles - and not just as a novelty, but to know that they want to turn up to watch some entertaining football.
”If we can get the results together, then we might be able to push that.
”I want to put my stamp on the team and know that we entertain, we do our jobs professionally, we work hard to get the ball back but when we’ve got the likes of [Jermaine] McGlashan and [Alex] Rodman and Wade Small, Manny Panther, there are some good players, entertaining players, Gutts [Luke Guttridge] – I’ve not done any of the players a disservice there, they were the first names that came into my head!
”It is about set pieces, it’s about defending, it’s about attacking, but enjoying playing football and I want them to do the right things and I want the players to be on the front foot and enjoy it and also make the twelfth man our crowd.
Holdsworth remained tight-lipped over his current injury situation, choosing to see who, if anyone, is fully recovered ahead of the match, however he did confirmed that Alex Rodman has recovered from the bug that saw him limited to a substitute appearance at Morecambe on Tuesday evening.
Former keeper, Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz has returned to the club on a non-contract basis and will also be available, should his international clearance come through and with Jamie Young being one of the players affected by the stomach bug, it remains to be seen who will feature in goal.
Shots from: Jamie Young, Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, Jordan Clement, Ben Herd, Simon Grand, Luke Guttridge, Darren Jones, Jamie Vincent, Anthony Charles, Ben Harding, Danny Hylton, Manny Panther, Aaron Morris, Peter Vincenti, Clayton Fortune, Jermaine McGlashan, Wade Small, Alex Rodman, Reece Connolly and Tim Sills.
The Opposition
Macclesfield Town manager Gary Simpson will be hoping his side can mastermind another three points over The Shots, and having grabbed a point at Edgar Street during the week, Simpson was left disappointed that it wasn’t more.
”Whilst we know we should have picked up all three points, it was vital we took something from the game. It was a game we couldn’t really afford to lose.”
Shaun Brisley has made a return to full training so could be set to play a part against The Shots after the midweek Reserves match was postponed, but there are doubts over Paul Morgan who was stretchered off having picked up a knock against Bury. Vinny Mukendi will be missing having picked up a medial ligament strain in the same match while Carl Tremarco and Simon Yeo are also out.
Former Shots' favourite Lewis Chalmers only made the bench for the side's midweek trip against Hereford, so could feature against his previous employers.
Macclesfield Town from: Jose Veiga, Jack Cudworth, Izak Reid, Hamza Bencherif, Nathaniel Brown, Paul Morgan, Lewis Chalmers, Ross Draper, Emile Sinclair, Reneil Sappleton, Colin Daniel, Jason Beardsley, Tony Diagne, Paul Bolland, Shaun Brisley, Matthew Lowe, Matthew Hamshaw, Richard Butcher, Dan Gray, Tyrone Barnett, Adam Roberts, Greg Daniels, Max Lonsdale and Liam Davies.
Taking Charge
Roger East will be taking charge of the match and will be assisted by Rob Mackay and David Margetts. Warren Atkin is the fourth official.
Weather Forecast
The BBC weather forecast for the match given as sunny with highs of 9°C.
Ticket News
Tickets for the match are set at:
Adult seats: £19, terrace: £17.
Concession (Over 60s, Military and students (both on production of ID cards only) seats: £15, terrace: £13.
Under 16s seats: £8, terrace £6.
For information on Family and Disabled ticket prices, please see the official Shots website.
The match is not all-ticket and supporters can pay on the turnstiles on the day.
There are also 39 Premium Seating tickets available for the match at a cost of just £39 + VAT each. See the official Shots website for more details.
Other News
- BBC Radio Surrey
Supporters unable to make the match can hear live coverage from the match on BBC Radio Surrey (on 104.6 FM) which is brought to you by the regular team of Gavin Denison and Aldershot Town Media Manager Steve Gibbs.
Supporters are reminded that there is no internet coverage of this match.