Farsley Celtic and Scarborough Athletic will lock horns for the fourth time this season when the Celts welcome the Seadogs to the Citadel in what promises to be a hotly contested Yorkshire derby.
Scarborough come of the back of five straight wins and a draw and are sure to offer a stern challenge to Clayton Donaldson’s side.
But the gaffer says we are going into the game with confidence following some strong performances over the festive season and our own eight-match unbeaten league run which only ended on Boxing Day at the hands of Scunthorpe.
“Looking back at both Scunthorpe games and Curzon, our performances definitely warranted more than we got,” said Clayton.
“That is the big positive we can take – we deserved something from the Scunthorpe home game and we had enough chances to take all three points against Curzon last week. We hit the woodwork twice, had two clear penalties denied by the officials and had other chances as well – we aren’t having the rub of the green at the moment.
“It’s a combination of bad luck, but also bad decision-making by officials, which has been a problem for much of the season.
“But we go into tomorrow’s game knowing we are playing well, our performance levels are high and we are full of confidence that we can get a result.”
Clayton is expecting a tough battle tomorrow having already played against Scarborough three times this season: a 1-1 draw at home in the FA Cup when arguably should have been out of sight by half time, a very young Farsley side then lost 3-0 in the replay days later, before The Celts grabbed an impressive 2-1 win away in the league in October.
“They are in form and on a good run,” added the gaffer. “We know they like to play expansive football at times, but we can take confidence from the FA Cup home tie earlier this season which was a game we should have won, and we beat them when we played away in the league In October.
“It should be a good contest in front of a good crowd and we are really looking forward to it.”
Kick-off time
The match kicks off at 3pm.
Ticket news & parking
Admission is by cash or card payment at the turnstile or tickets can also be bought in advance. Full ticket, parking and all the important supporter information can be found here.
Team news
The Celts will be without midfielder Ryan Watson, who serves the last of his three-match ban following his dismissal against Gloucester City before Christmas.
Lewis Turner and Joao Silva have gone out on loan to Ossett United and the gaffer has today issued an update on long term injuries to Jack Leckie, Harry Sheridan and Darren Stephenson.
Former Scarborough skipper Michael Coulson is set to play against his former teammates for the first time.
For the Seadogs, Lewis Maloney and Frank Mulhern could be available to feature after missing the past few weeks through injury.
How are Scarborough faring?
Last time we met at the Citadel
The two sides fought out a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup second qualifying round back in September. Ben Atkinson opened the scoring in the first half for Farsley from the penalty spot, before Alex Brown drew the Seadogs level in the second half.
Only a super first half showing by visiting keeper Cracknell kept the score within reaching distance for the Boro. Read our match report here.
Catering and drinks
Hot and cold food and drink is available in the ground on match day. Our clubhouse is also open to home and away fans and accepts cash and card payments. A cash-only can bar will also be in operation at The Shed end of the ground. Hot and cold food is available in the ground.
Social media
If you can’t make it to the Citadel tomorrow, you can follow our live Twitter feed for match commentary. Goal updates will feature on Instagram and Facebook
