On Tuesday, 17th placed Aldershot Town take on Eastleigh FC (19th) at the Silverlake Stadium, in a re-arranged National League game, following the Boxing Day postponement.
Both sides lost 2-0 on Saturday – The Shots beaten at Dover, whilst the Spitfires went down to Maidenhead.
Shots Squad:
Shots boss Danny Searle will have Robbie Tinkler available again following his one-match suspension. However, Kodi Lyons-Foster – sent off at Crabble on Saturday, will have to sit this one out. George Fowler is close to returning from a long-term knee injury, but is likely to make the bench at best. Searle is hoping to bring in a defender prior to Tuesday evening’s game with Alex Finney his only available established first team Centre-Back. Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong has returned from his brief loan spell at Dartford and should be available, whilst Shamir Mullings has extended his loan spell at Dulwich Hamlet for another month.
Opposition:
Name: Eastleigh FC
Founded: 1946 (as Swaythling Athletic)
Nickname: The Spitfires
Manager: Ben Strevens
Stadium: The Silverlake Stadium
2019/20 Current League Position: 18th
Brief History:
Eastleigh were founded in 1946 as Swaythling Athletic and played their home games on Southampton Common before moving to Westfield in Swaythling. They moved to their current Ten Acres home in 1957 and changed their name to Eastleigh in 1980 rising from the Hampshire Leagues to the Conference South in 2005. A change of ownership of the club in 2011 helped propel the Spitfires into the National League Premier in 2014 and significant improvement has happened to the Silverlake Stadium since.
The Gaffer:
Eastleigh are managed by former prolific EFL striker Ben Strevens, who was best known for his spells at Barnet, Dagenham & Redbridge and Gary Waddock’s Wycombe Wanderers side. He joined the Eastleigh coaching staff in 2016 as Player/Assistant Manager under Chris Todd. He then left to join Whitehawk in the National League South where he had a spell as Player/Caretaker Manager, where he had a last minute-penalty saved in one of his few games in charge. He re-joined Eastleigh in 2017, retiring from playing at the end of last season to join the coaching staff at the Spitfires, and took over from Andy Hessenthaler in October 2018, originally as Caretaker Manager, with his first game the 2-1 defeat to Aldershot at the Silverlake Stadium. He was given the job full-time a month later and went on to steer Eastleigh to the end of season play-offs last season.
Playing Squad:
Strevens lost some key players in the summer, notable top scorer Paul McCallum and top assister Mark Yeates.
Former Shots striker Scott Rendell signed for the Spitfires and is their top scorer so far this season with 11 goals in all competitions to date. He has been joined at the Silverlake by experienced striker Tyrone Barnett (7 goals so far this season). Midfielder Danny Hollands has been a regular scorer too, with 8 goals to date. Former Shots loanee Joe Partington also plays for the Spitfires, who have strengthened their ranks since their New Year’s Day defeat at The EBB Stadium with the loan signings of; Forest Green Defender Udoka Godwin-Malife, Bournemouth Forward Jake Scrimshaw and Leyton Orient Striker James Alabi.
Referee:
Tuesday’s referee is Adrian Quelch. He has refereed 12 National League matches this season, showing 42 yellow cards and 3 red cards to date.
Commentary:
There will be live BBC Surrey Sport commentary on Tuesday evening, with Rob Worrall and Shots Trust Chairman Tommy Anderson, from 7:35pm. To interact with the commentary team, tweet @RobShot66.
