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Win a must in tomorrow's clash
Hereford United host mid-table Margate at Edgar Street tomorrow knowing that to keep the Bulls' play-off bid alive, anything less that victory will not be good enough, kick off 3pm.
Graham Turner told the Evening News that Hereford need to win. "It's no good saying we need five wins out of six or thinking too far ahead," he said. "At this stage we have just got to make sure we win and then see how other results affect us. Chester and Morecambe will be the results we'll keep a closest eye on and we have to hope that somewhere along the line they slip up and we can capitalise but that means us taking care of business at our end.
"The level of performance and all sorts of things go out of the window. I'd like to see an entertaining game with good football but it's the points that are more important. Home advantage has to be a big factor. Up until recently we've had a decent away record although at Barnet I thought we did reasonably well we should have done better but we didn't and that puts a little bit more pressure on us."
Hereford's top scorer Steve Guinan, with eleven Conference goals, will start in attack alongside either loan signing Karl Hawley from Walsall or former Bristol City forward Albano Correia. Midfielder Jamie Pitman and striker John Grant are both suspended, while defensive linchpin Tony James has an ankle injury and faces a late fitness test.
"He turned his ankle at Barnet and it was badly swollen," said Turner. "He's generally a quick healer but tomorrow might be too early for him."
Opponents Margate are likely to field top scorer Leon Braithwaite, who has scored ten times in the Conference this season, but manager Chris Kinnear misses John Keister and Terry McFlynn, who are away on international duty with Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland under-21s respectively. Midfielder Simon Beard has a chipped bone in his ankle, but Margate came through Tuesday's defeat at Doncaster Rovers without any further injuries or suspensions.
The last two matches between these sides have both resulted in Hereford victories. Graham Turner's men won 3-0 at Edgar Street just over a year ago, and in February beat Margate 2-0 on their home soil. United lie just outside the play-off zone, four points behind fourth-placed Morecambe with both sides having six matches to play. The Bulls have won eight of their seventeen home matches this season, and will start as favourites against Margate, who lie fourteenth but have lost eleven of their eighteen away games. Their recent form isn't very impressive either - having lost four and won one of their last six games in the Conference.
Kinnear told the BBC of Hereford: "They're a great side. There's no doubt they're a very, very good footballing side. It's going to be a hard game against a team who are full-time professionals."