Aldershot Town will travel to Tyneside this weekend to face Gateshead at the International Stadium in a clash between two sides near the bottom of the National League table.
Gateshead come into the fixture on an uptick in form, having won their last home match against Southend United and drawn away to Torquay United last week. Meanwhile, Aldershot will look to prevent a further slide down the table having also grabbed a win to Southend in their most recent fixture.
Match preview
Gateshead fans will be looking forward to the weekend hopeful of continuing their relegation fightback against still-managerless Aldershot.
The team from the North-East had to travel hundreds of miles last week to face fellow strugglers Torquay to claim a point. Having gone behind from an Aaron Jarvis header, the Tynsiders took just five minutes to equalise thanks to a bundled-in goalmouth scramble from the boot of Elliot Forbes.
The result flattered Gateshead somewhat, with goalkeeper James Montgomery coming to the rescue several times to ward off the Torquay advances of Mark Ellis and Brett McGavin late on.
Mike Williamson's side will take a lot of heart from the draw - a continuance of the steeliness showed at the International Stadium the week before. That victory against Southend came from a second-half salvo courtesy of Kamil Conteh, Adam Campbell and Conor Carty, which may prove a vital result for the trajectory of their season.
The Tynesiders will face an Aldershot side wanting to put up a strong fight away from home. With sides such as Yeovil Town and Maidstone United breathing down their neck at the bottom of the table, the Shots need to avoid a slip-up against a side just below them in the table.
Last week's victory saw Aldershot keep a clean sheet at the EBB Stadium against promotion-contenders Southend. Goals from October signing Corey Jordan and forward Justin Amaluzor proved more than enough for the Hampshire side with the hosts coasting to a surprise victory.
Amaluzor has proved a clutch player on the right for Aldershot, with a healthy six goals this league campaign for the summer signing from Motherwell proving game-winning in many matches this season.
Interim manager Ross McNeilly has been placed with the task of steadying the ship since Mark Molesley's acrimonious departure in October. However, with the club still on the search to appoint a permanent replacement, Gateshead could respond to the board's uncertainty well, bullish at the prospect of taking all three points at home on Saturday.
Team News
Left-winger Owen Gallacher is set to return to the starting lineup for the Tynesiders, having come off the bench last weekend. The Crawley Town loanee had missed the last month of fixtures due to a muscle injury.
Recent Gateshead signing Conor Carty will look to keep his spot upfront, having put in good performances in the last two matches.
Meanwhile, Jordan will look to retain his spot in defence for Aldershot having scored his first goal of the season for the Shots last weekend.
Should the visitors want to take a cautious approach playing so far away from home, they may look to play Ben Shroll instead of Archie Davies as a defensive wide midfielder. Shroll came on in the closing minutes for Davies last week in a clear defensive move, and McNeilly may ask similar from him this Saturday.
Gateshead possible starting lineup:
Montgomery; Pye, Ward, Forbes, Richardson; Martin, Bailey, Harris, Conteh; Gallacher, Carty
Aldershot Town possible starting lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Cordner, Lyons-Foster, Jordan, Harfield; Amaluzor, Partington, Glover, Willard; Effiong, Alfa
We say: Gateshead 2-1 Aldershot Town
There is no denying that Gateshead have had a miserable season thus far. Having won just one league game since late September, very few people would put them as comfortable favourites for Saturday.
However, their most recent performances coupled with a much greater stability in their own dugout may prove decisive for the relegation-threatened team to prevail at the International Stadium.
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