FC Halifax Town will be on the road again on Saturday with a trip to Mickleover Sports.
The Derbyshire outfit currently sit 20th in the table after a tough start to life in the Northern Premier League following promotion last year, having lost three of their first four games this season, including an opening day loss at Whitby Town, as well as home defeats to North Ferriby United and Kendal Town.
Their only victory so far came in their last game at Matlock Town on Bank Holiday Monday, with Martin Smythe and Alex Steadman both bagging their second goals of the season in a 2-1 win.
Mickleover have started well in those four matches, scoring the first goal in three of them, but have been vulnerable after half-time, with six of the eleven goals they've conceded so far coming in the last 15 minutes.
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It's a similar story for the Shaymen, who have also scored the first goal in three games so far and are yet to be behind at half-time. But while they have a far better defensive record than Mickleover, conceding just four times, each of those goals have come in the second-half of games.
Only Retford United have conceded more goals than Mickleover in the league, but only Worksop Town have scored more goals than them, with a total of 19 goals being scored in their four games to date.
Manager Dick Pratley is in his 5th season in charge of Sports, and guided the club to the Evo-Stik First Division South title last season.
They then met Halifax in the Chairman's Cup at The Shay at the end of last season, and won on penalties after a 2-2 draw, which was followed by a meeting with Evo-Stik Premier champions Guiseley in the President's Cup, but this time they lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
While there are no familiar faces to Town fans in the Sports' squad, defender Joe Carter is a former team-mate of Jamie Vardy at Stocksbridge Park Steels.
Vardy himself is expected be in the starting eleven on Saturday, despite playing with painkillers in the 1-1 draw with Colwyn Bay on Monday. There may also be another appearance off the bench from James Dean as he continues his rehabilitation from injury, but Aaron Hardy and Nathan Taylor are both doubts while Danny Lowe is still unavailable.
Halifax could rise as high as 5th in the table win a win at the Mickleover Sports Ground, with the game getting underway at 3pm.
However, if you can't make it to the match, the official FC Halifax Town website will be providing regular updates on all the action throughout the afternoon, while match highlights will be available on Shaymen Player from Sunday.
Tom Scargill
