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Warrington’s manager is Mark Beesley, a part of one of the better Hereford United squads that were put together over the years. Beesley has coaxed his charges through a solid start to their first season in the National League North since promotion from the Northern Premier League in May. Admittedly they’re sitting modestly in 16th position currently, but they’re only four points behind Hereford, who are 8th, and Tuesday’s visitors have two games in hand. They’re in reasonable form, winning recently against Gloucester and Rushall. If they can beat the struggling teams they should be able to keep their heads above water, and like Hereford they haven’t had much luck with injuries so far this season, so when players start coming back, as they now are, their squad looks very decent. They narrowly lost at Scunthorpe last time out in a game they reportedly really should have got at least a draw from, and their match against Tamworth at the weekend was postponed.
The club brought in Stockport’s Josh Popoola on loan at the weekend. The wide man has already had spells with Spennymoor and Chorley this season, and impressed at both.
Versatile defender Mitch Duggan is suspended for this one having been an ever-present for them to date, whilst fellow defender Andre Wisdom returns from injury. The ex-Derby and Red Bull Salzberg player has a very impressive CV so could be a tough nut to crack for the Bulls attackers.
Influential if ageing central midfielder Jay Harris could return here after a long time out with a groin injury. The ex-Tranmere and Wrexham player would give the visitors a big boost with his return, so hopefully it’s a game too soon for him.
Beesley’s approach is similar to that of Paul Caddis, trying to squeeze maximum value out of his playing budget by bringing versatile players in. They therefore only really have one ‘official’ striker at the club, long-serving captain Josh Amis, with others getting into attacking positions around him.
Warrington don’t tend to draw away, and Hereford never do at home, so a stalemate seems unlikely here.
As Jason Cowley settles in to nicely averaging a goal a game, he’ll presumably become more and more of a marked man, but he does have that indomitable spirit that suggests that marked or not he’ll still be impossible to contain for 90 minutes. Another goal or two here wouldn’t be a surprise.
Nathan Cameron made a welcome return to the bench on Saturday, and will hopefully be fit enough to rekindle his central defensive partnership with Paul Downing here, which has looked to be a solid one for the most part. To their left, Paul Caddis could decide to bring Adam Livingstone back into defence, although what he offers in more advanced positions would then be missed. Caddis will also have to consider the difficulty Adam had containing Popoola in the Spennymoor game in September, with Aaron Skinner having to come to the rescue in a tactical flank swap in that match - early-season evidence of how good a player Skinner is.
With no concrete news on Jordan Lyden’s return, there should be a place in the starting XI for Tom Pugh, which would be as reassuring as Nathan Cameron’s return at the back. What isn’t so good is that as things stand this will be Pugh’s last game with the club as his loan spell ends. With regular football still far from guaranteed at Scunthorpe for a player who seems to be enjoying his time at the best football club on Earth (and why wouldn't you?), it may be a no-brainer to extend it given how mutually beneficial the arrangement is, as long as the money’s there to fund it. Fellow midfielder Lassana Mendes’ whole-hearted commitment to the cause and happy knack of getting goals has been important this season, but he’s reportedly struggling with a sore back.
Up front, or frontish, Adam Rooney could come into contention here in support of Jason Cowley having had a rest, with Ethan Freemantle’s fitness still seemingly an issue. Koby Arthur could also be an option, and would be a huge threat if he could replicate the performance he gave against Banbury.
Given their strong overall home form and a need to put certain things behind them sharpish, a Bulls win seems like a realistic hope. That would propel them up to fifth in the table. Admittedly they’ll have then played a game or two more than those around them, but it’s points on the board that matter, unless you’ve got games in hand and then it’s games in hand that matter.
There’s then a break for the FA Trophy before a Christmas programme featuring the likes of Bishops Stortford, Gloucester and, er, Gloucester, so there’s perhaps some low-hanging fruit there from which to launch a concerted assault on a play-off place.
And yes, I’m pretending that Saturday didn’t happen.
COYW