County begin their Buildbase FA Trophy campaign this weekend, looking to move on from Tuesday’s disappointment at Notts County with victory against National League North Guiseley at Edgeley Park.
That defeat at Meadow Lane in midweek brought to an end our five game winning run in all competitions stretching back to October, and leaves us in 10th place in the National League table – with at least three games in hand on all sides above us.
For Guiseley, they booked their place in the Third Round of the competition with a 2-0 home victory over Chorley on Tuesday night – and will be aiming to protect an unbeaten record against County in competitive matches, although they did lose 5-1 against the Hatters in pre-season.
Our Opponents:
An opportunity for a run in the FA Trophy could prove a welcome distraction for the Yorkshire side, as a difficult start to the season sees them down in 19th in the National League North table, just two points above the relegation zone.
This comes despite a relatively strong end to the 2019/20 season under joint managers Marcus Bignot and Russ O’Neill, which saw the Lions end the campaign in ninth place, just four points shy of the play-off places after seven wins from their final 13 league games.
Amongst notable Summer signings at Nethermoor Park was County title winner Dan Cowan, although the defender has since moved on to new pastures at Curzon Ashton, and former Boston United forward Jonathon Wafula.
One signing that perhaps went under the radar in the Summer was ex-Sheffield FC and Tadcaster Albion midfielder Lebrun Mbeka. The 24-year-old midfielder joined after a successful trial over pre-season, and has scored four goals in the National League North already – making him their top scorer.
More recently, County fans may recognise new loan signing Milan Butterfield. The Chesterfield midfielder made the temporary move to Nethermoor last Saturday, and has already featured three times against County already this season.
Pre-season optimism will only have been boosted by a convincing 4-0 victory over Blyth Spartans on opening day, but a surprise FA Cup defeat away at FC United of Manchester quickly brought them back down to Earth.
A six game winless run in the league followed, as the side plummeted by the League table. To date, they currently have just three wins from their 11 league games played, with six defeats.
The main danger man for County on Saturday could well be one who once donned the Blue shirt himself – versatile attacker Kaine Felix, who once spent time on loan at Edgeley Park in 2016-18, is now in his third season at Guiseley and is their main attacking threat – scoring their only goal in that 5-1 defeat to County in pre-season.
Match Stats:
- County will be looking to beat Guiseley for the first time in a competitive fixture, having failed to win any of our previous six games against them – losing three.
- Only once have County ever been knocked out at this stage of the competition – against Stalybridge Celtic back in 2011.
