Whitchurch Alport get chance to show their promotion credentials

It comes on the back of a solid clean sheet in the Midland League Premier Division and an upturn in form for Alport, while Northwich have not won in four games.

Whitchurch got their first clean sheet since early September at the weekend, beating Dudley Town 1-0.

Manager Adam Shillcock is aware of the chance his team needs to take: “We’re aware that they’re on a little bit of a downward curve.

“They’ve got some people missing through injury and suspension, they’ll still pose a threat, obviously, and they play a different type of football to ourselves.

“They’ll look to be more direct, and we’ll try and play football through the thirds, so it will be a good test of where we’re at, at this moment, for this group.”

“Nothing’s decided at game 12, but if we want to be serious promotion contenders, then we need to be beating the likes of 1874, who are going to be in and around those spots as well.”

Centre-half Lewis Brown made the difference last weekend with his goal against Dudley Town. Shillcock said: “He should score double figures this year, even as a centre half, because he poses as a threat in the box, and he’s got real quality.”

Lewis Bloor was moved into a more attacking role on the day, as Shillcock described him as a “real nuisance”.

“He was a real threat, and on a different day, he could have had two or three goals himself. He was my man of the match on the day,” he said.

Elsewhere, Shifnal Town play OJM Black Country. The pressure is on for Town to win the games in hand from their historic FA Cup run, as four wins would put them in the play-offs, and four losses would leave them two points from safety.

In Division One, AFC Bridgnorth hope to end their winless season against a strong Bilston Town side.

Manager Jack Griffiths said his team need to be positive: “We know we’ve got the personnel. We know we’ve got the talent. So, we’ve just got to be positive.”

Market Drayton Town face Hereford Pegasus in the FA Vase first round. Manager Dan Dawson said there’s no new injury news.

“Most of our injuries are back except for Connor Lawton, and I think Matt Homes will be back in training this week. It might be a bit too soon, but we’ll see,” he said.

“We’ll have a big crowd there and getting into the second round of the Vase would be an excellent achievement for the club.”

Allscott Heath are also in the Vase as they visit Skegness Town, while in North West Counties Division One South, Shawbury United are in action against league leaders Stafford Town.

In the Hellenic League Division One, Ludlow Town face relegation-threatened Southam United, having just lost 3-0 to Droitwich Spa at the top of the table.