After the euphoria of the win against the league leaders, it’s the longest journey of the season to the north east to face Gateshead.
The Heed are spending their second season back at this level after winning National League North in the 2021-22 season. They finished a creditable 14th last season and also got to the FA Trophy Final which they lost to Halifax.
This season is going even better for them and they currently sit 5th in the table after winning 2-1 at Solihull Moors on Tuesday evening - 2 goals late in the first half, the first a penalty, were enough for them with Solihull only managing one in reply in the second half.
Much of their success has been put down to former manager Mike Williamson, who was originally appointed as player manager in June 2019 and went on to guide them to promotion and cementing their place in the fifth tier. As I hope we never find out, successful young managers in the National League will be coveted by those higher up the football ladder. So it was with Williamson when Franchise FC came calling last month and he upped sticks and moved south to the town of roundabouts and concrete cows to take over as their head coach along with a couple of his trusted backroom staff.
The Tynesiders have appointed former Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot as the interim manager, promoted from technical director. He drew his first game with Rochdale, lost the next 4-0 at home to AFC Fylde, and then (like us) got knocked out of the cup by Yeovil. Since then he seems to have found a winning formula with a 6-0 against Dorking, a 2-0 win at high-flying Barnet before Tuesday's victory.
They're in decent form and would be above us in the league even without our 10 point deduction, and their goal difference is superior to ours too so they are not to be underestimated.
Obviously we're in pretty decent form ourselves, with the win last Saturday underscoring what an excellent squad Kev and his team have assembled. We should welcome back both Daniel Kanu and Mauro Vilhete back from international duty and if Beau MacDonald is selected too, unknown new injuries aside, we could even field a full bench for the first time this season.
It's hard to see Kev changing a winning side, but to be honest Wood probably didn't impress enough last Saturday (playing out of position) to keep the impressive Kanu from returning.
Hopefully the takeover is nearly complete and with that the embargo can be lifted and Messrs Still and Collymore can work their magic and get us some additional signings - I've even optimistically left a few spare lines in the poll in case we get some last minute signings.
So who would you choose to start the game in the frozen north, and what do you predict the result will be?
The Heed are spending their second season back at this level after winning National League North in the 2021-22 season. They finished a creditable 14th last season and also got to the FA Trophy Final which they lost to Halifax.
This season is going even better for them and they currently sit 5th in the table after winning 2-1 at Solihull Moors on Tuesday evening - 2 goals late in the first half, the first a penalty, were enough for them with Solihull only managing one in reply in the second half.
Much of their success has been put down to former manager Mike Williamson, who was originally appointed as player manager in June 2019 and went on to guide them to promotion and cementing their place in the fifth tier. As I hope we never find out, successful young managers in the National League will be coveted by those higher up the football ladder. So it was with Williamson when Franchise FC came calling last month and he upped sticks and moved south to the town of roundabouts and concrete cows to take over as their head coach along with a couple of his trusted backroom staff.
The Tynesiders have appointed former Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot as the interim manager, promoted from technical director. He drew his first game with Rochdale, lost the next 4-0 at home to AFC Fylde, and then (like us) got knocked out of the cup by Yeovil. Since then he seems to have found a winning formula with a 6-0 against Dorking, a 2-0 win at high-flying Barnet before Tuesday's victory.
They're in decent form and would be above us in the league even without our 10 point deduction, and their goal difference is superior to ours too so they are not to be underestimated.
Obviously we're in pretty decent form ourselves, with the win last Saturday underscoring what an excellent squad Kev and his team have assembled. We should welcome back both Daniel Kanu and Mauro Vilhete back from international duty and if Beau MacDonald is selected too, unknown new injuries aside, we could even field a full bench for the first time this season.
It's hard to see Kev changing a winning side, but to be honest Wood probably didn't impress enough last Saturday (playing out of position) to keep the impressive Kanu from returning.
Hopefully the takeover is nearly complete and with that the embargo can be lifted and Messrs Still and Collymore can work their magic and get us some additional signings - I've even optimistically left a few spare lines in the poll in case we get some last minute signings.
So who would you choose to start the game in the frozen north, and what do you predict the result will be?
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