The National League season continues in midweek as Aldershot Town welcome Boreham Wood to the Electrical Services Stadium on Tuesday night, with the two sides separated by only two points in the National League table.
This fixture is a mid-table clash with 14th-placed Aldershot Town on 34 points and their 11th-placed visitors Boreham Wood on 36 points. Both the Shots and the Wood are within striking distance of the playoffs, but they will need to put their own respective runs together if they are to realise their shared ambition of climbing up to the Football League.
Match preview
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Newly-appointed Aldershot manager Ross McNeilly has had a wildly inconsistent start to his tenure at the Hampshire outfit - since his appointment on December 5, a win in his first game was followed by a run of four losses on the spin in all competitions.
McNeilly and his Shots players have righted the ship of late, and are currently on a five-game unbeaten run heading into Tuesday night with three of those five games being wins.
This recent run has ignited whispers of an unlikely playoff push, although their progress was checked on Saturday after a 0-0 draw at home to struggling ex-Premier League side Oldham Athletic.
Ahead of Tuesday night, Inih Effiong will once again be the Shots' main goal threat - his 14 goals have kept their league position respectable almost single-handedly. The 31 year-old English-Nigerian will hope to continue his charge towards a possible golden boot with another haul of strikes against the Wood.
Justin Amaluzor's seven strikes from the right wing have also been a very fruitful avenue for the team in the final third in 2022-23 and Englishman Amaluzor, who also shares his teammate's links to Nigeria, may have his sights set on reaching double figures for goals as early as Tuesday night.
A hat-trick is needed against Boreham Wood for the 26 year-old, who arrived at the club following a free transfer from Motherwell in the summer, to reach double figures for the campaign.
However, Town will need to start getting and sharing their assists around the team more from the Wood game onwards, as the club-high one that left-back Ollie Harfield has registered this season has curbed their ambition immensely.
Aldershot's sixth-highest tally of goals conceded in the National League of 48 will also have to be dramatically reduced from Tuesday night onwards if they are to make any ground on the several teams above them in the playoff race.
Luke Garrard and his Boreham Wood team, meanwhile, have gained national plaudits for their FA Cup runs in recent years and are on course for a third successive mid-table finish in the fifth tier.
Despite being 11th, the team are only three points off Dagenham & Redbridge in the final playoff berth of seventh and they will feel confident of usurping the traffic ahead of them in the table between now and May.
Lee Ndlovu's seven goals have dovetailed nicely with the respective five and three-goal hauls of his fellow attackers, Tyrone Marsh and Danny Newton to leave the Wood well placed to properly attack the top seven in the second half of 2022-23.
Ndlovu, Marsh and Newton will need to either maintain or improve on these standards from Tuesday night onwards if the team are to realise their ambition for the campaign.
A tight back three defence has been the fulcrum of the team's season up until the meeting with Aldershot, as a way of making up for the modest amount of goals that the team has registered this season. Six goals conceded in as many league games combined with 25 overall in the campaign has stopped the Wood sliding into any danger.
Boreham Wood's rigidity has also kept the promotion flame flickering slightly and Garrad's men will know that they need to start turning this solidity into consistent maximum-point hauls so the trip to Aldershot represents a good jumping-off point for this aim.
Central defenders Will Evans and David Agbontohoma will expect to be similarly miserly, as will left-back turned centre-half Femi Ilesanmi whose versatility proved very useful last time out in the 2-0 away win at Altrincham. Chris Bush and Dennon Lewis will hope to provide the width on the flanks for Garrard's side on Tuesday night.
Team News
The Shots have a clean bill of health ahead of the visit from the Hertfordshire outfit on Tuesday night.
As a result of this healthy squad, Ross McNeilly has the option of going with the 3-4-3 system that he utilised in the draw with Oldham on Saturday.
Effiong will be flanked by Amaluzor and Jake Hutchinson in the forward line, whilst Giles Phillips, Tyler Cordner and Corey Jordan will hold the defensive line in the back three ahead of former England Under-20 international Luca Ashby-Hammond between the sticks.
McNeilly's formation will therefore also allow Oliver Pendlebury and Joe Partington to resume their usual roles as a central midfield pair.
Boreham Wood will be without Portuguese forward Bruno Andrade, as he will be serving a three-game suspension due to a straight red card. Andrade has only made three appearances for the Wood though, so Luke Garrard will probably line the team up as he usually would without the forward.
3-5-2 is de rigueur for the team so Erico Sousa will partner Ndlovu up front, whilst Josh Rees, Jack Payne and George Broadbent will provide the hustle and bustle in central midfield.
Tyrone Marsh and Danny Newton are both pushing for starts out wide and in attack respectively after they both appeared as substitutes against Altrincham on Saturday.
Aldershot Town possible starting lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Phillips, Cordner, Jordan; Glover, Partington, Pendlebury, Harfield; Amaluzor, Effiong, Hutchinson
Boreham Wood possible starting lineup:
Ashmore; Ilesanmi, Evans, Agbontohoma; Marsh, Payne, Rees, Broadbent, Bush; Newton, Ndlovu
We say: Aldershot Town 2-1 Boreham Wood
Neither of these teams give much away in terms of points or goals, but the fact that Aldershot are at home and that they have scored 12 goals in their last five matches, may just swing the result in their favour.
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Top tip
Ollie Hawthorn
