YORK City supporter Morgan Bruce previews the Minstermen's upcoming match with Forest Green Rovers.
This weekend we see York City play in yet another big game as they travel south to the Gloucestershire town of Nailsworth to face fellow title challengers Forest Green Rovers.
This weekend’s match up is a game between the current top two in the National League and two sides who are only separated by a single point, and therefore this game could have major implications for the title race this season.
It’s also important as it is the end to a run of five games in a row for Adam Hinshelwood’s men where they have faced a local rival, a title challenger or a team from the league above.
They’ve done incredibly well during this run as the only game they haven’t won was in the FA Cup first round tie away to Wycombe, who at the time were second in League One but have since leap-frogged free spending former Premier League club Birmingham City to move top of the third tier.
Refocusing to this weekend’s game York will be going into this game understanding the challenge that they will be facing as the Rovers are currently unbeaten at home so far this season.
Of their 17 games in the league this season, only six of them have been at home so the Forest Green have been given what could be described as an unfair hand in terms of the fixture run so far this year.
However they have won five and drawn one of those six, averaging 2.6 points per game (PPG) at home this year.
Due to the fixture split they have had so far this year, it will mean that they will have some runs throughout the season of multiple home games in a row.
If they can maintain the 2.6 PPG that they have already accumulated, across all 23 home games this season they will finish the year on 59 points at home.
That is only one less than title winners Chesterfield from the 2023/24 season, putting them in a very strong position to win the title this year if they were to maintain it.
York will be going into this game with a couple of boosts in relation to the squad. On Wednesday, Jeff King signed on a free transfer from League Two Swindon Town who adds extra quality, depth and most importantly National League title-winning experience after his time at Chesterfield.
The other boost is that defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott is expected to be fit for this game following his head collision with Hartlepool defender Billy Sass-Davies last Saturday.
York will be going into this game with a lot of them confidence themselves due to maintaining an unbeaten record away from home in the league so far this season with four wins and four draws.
This is their first away game since the loss away to Wycombe so they will be looking to bounce back and get back to winning ways on the road.
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