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Bulls set for LDV battle
Hereford United are one of twelve Nationwide Conference sides participating in the first round of this season's LDV Vans Trophy.
The Bulls, who didn't qualify for the competition last year, will host Northampton Town at Edgar Street tomorrow night, kick off 7.45pm.
The competition is split into the northern and southern sections and the winners of the two areas meet in a final, set to be staged at the Millennium Stadium, with £50,000 on offer to the eventual winners, which last season weer Blackpool.
All games will be decided on the day, with a golden goal extra time period and penalities if neccessary, and should Hereford progress, they will feature in the FA Cup draw, live on Sky Sports' Soccer AM next Saturday.
Opponents Northampton are sixteenth in Division Two after flirting with relegation last season. Their main threat is Marco Gabbiadini in attack, who has seven league goals already this season, but no-one else has scored more than two goals for the Cobblers this season. On Saturday, they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Notts County and have won just once in their last six away matches.
Town will miss Darryn Stamp with a knee injury, because the risk of bringing him back too quickly was too large. Otherwise, Kevin Broadhurst, the Northampton boss, could hand a start to Richard Hope. Fringe players John Frain, Jamie Forrester, Nathan Abbey and Greg Lincoln may also see some action, but striker Armand One will not feature as he has returned to Cambridge after having his loan deal terminated.
Hereford will again be without attacker Steve Guinan and captain Ian Wright for the game. Ben Smith, though, is set to continue on the bench and could make his debut later in the match.
Cobblers' boss Kevan Broadhurst said: "It's another game and I want to win every game. If it's a cup game or a league game, it doesn't matter, so long as we are winning games then we are making progress."
On Northampton Town's own cobbersbet, a Hereford 1-0 win is 7/1, and 3-0 home victory is 28/1. A goalless draw is 10/1, whilst Northampton could scrape a narrow 2-1 victory at 7/1.