Match Preview

Eccleshill United travel to Retford United on Saturday for its latest NCEL fixture on the back of a midweek victory against Rossington Main in what has been a terrific start to November.

The Eagles have climbed to joint second and will be hoping to keep the pressure on both Yorkshire Amateurs and Knaresborough Town with another three points against the former Premier Division club.

Sean Regan will be forced to make changes to his side, with the news that Tom Rose has suffered a hairline fracture set to put the midfielder on the shelf for up to eight weeks. As well as that, Anil Singh is still unavailable through injury and Jonny Irving will serve the last of his three-match ban.

There are also injury concerns for both of Eccleshill's right-backs, Matt Stor and Carlton Pownall, with Stor pulling up during the warm-up against Rossington and Pownall withdrawing in the second half.

Despite that, Sean Regan will still have a strong squad to choose from given the increased squad depth this season and will be boosted by the return of Antony Brown, who will be hoping to replicate his brilliant performance against the league leaders last week.

Chris Lever has also found a fine patch of form in recent weeks, with a hatrick against Knaresborough and another strong performance on Wednesday, his physical approach will be a major test for the Retford defense.

Defensively for the Eagles, the club is undergoing one of its greatest ever seasons with Dominic Smith and his back four earning five clean sheets in the last six outings, with the most recent coming against Rossington.

Even though top scorer, Irving, will be missing the trip to Retford, goals have been coming from all across the side during his absence, with Sam Bradley and Matt Mathers proving that even the back four are prepared to pitch in with the goals earlier in the week.

Retford United find themselves at the opposite end of the table to the Eagles, currently sitting in the relegation zone in 21st place, heading into the game without a win in five games, with its last win coming against the side that Eccleshill defeated on Wednesday, Rossington.

That is something that Retford will be aiming to change on Saturday, against the Eagles, and Retford has proven its ability against the league's top sides already this season. Having defeated Grimsby Borough and only just losing to Knaresborough Town 1-0, the Eagles opponents have shown it can raise its game against the top sides, making this a difficult trip.