Stourbridge in need of a win

After a bright start to the season, Gary Hackett’s men have fallen to 11th in the Evo-Stik Premier having won just one of their last seven league games, writes Paul Joannou.

Stourbridge have suffered two defeats already this week. They fell to a 2-1 defeat courtesy of a 90th-minute winner away at Workington before they slipped to a 2-0 loss at Nantwich Town which Hackett described as ‘one of the poorest of the season’ but he’s hoping they can produce a similar performance to the one at Workington where they were seconds away from a result.

“The performance was very good against Workington,” said Hackett. “We were unlucky not to take something from that game but against Nantwich we were as poor as we have been for a long time which was a concern, but it’s over and we look forward now.

“If the lads keep up their work-rate then we’ll be fine. We don’t have many poor performances so hopefully it’s out the system now.”

Hackett will be without top scorer Luke Benbow, who is suspended, while defender Stuart Pierpoint is also out with a niggle he picked up in the week.

Farsley Celtic themselves aren’t in great form. They’ve won just one of their last five league games but Hackett is wary of the threat they possess.

“We’ve got plenty of information on them,” he added. “They’ve James Walshaw who was the league’s top scorer last season so we’re wary of their threat. We’ve gone through the information in training so we’re looking forward to the game.”

Elsewhere in the Evo-Stik Premier, 19th-placed Rushall Olympic will be looking for their first away league win since October when they travel to Matlock Town, who are 12th.

Third-bottom Halesowen Town will be aiming for a second successive league victory when they host 18th place Nantwich Town, a win could see Halesowen leapfrog their opponents if other results go in their favour.