Hinckley AFC will aim to extend their impressive home run when they welcome Leicester Nirvana for a Leicestershire derby on Saturday.
AFC haven’t lost a home game since the end of August, and are now five without defeat at Kirkby Road after last week’s come-from-behind win over Newport Pagnell Town.
But depleted Hinckley face a big availability battle – Keelan Fallows is back in goal but Lewis Rankin will be assessed after picking up a knock in Tuesday’s game at Bugbrooke, while Jack Edwards, Isa Abraham, Zaki Evans, Alex Vineall and Fionn O’Brien are all still out.
The opposition
Nirvana picked up their second win of the season last week when they beat Godmanchester Rovers, ending a run of three straight defeats.
Jaylan Wildbore’s goal in that game took him to six for the season – he is their leading scorer.
That win lifted them two points clear of bottom spot, and they now have 10 points from their 10 games, sitting 15th in the table – though they have played the fewest games of anyone in the division.
But despite their lowly position, Nirvana have competed well with most of the sides in the top eight – drawing with Lutterworth, March and Yaxley, beating ON Chenecks and leading St Neots 2-0 before going on to lose 3-2.
From the dressing room
“It’ll be tough this afternoon, and I think they’re in a bit of a false position because they have some good players on paper, especially going forward. They’ll be dangerous, and have lots of players who can score goals so it should be a good game on home soil.
“But we need to keep worrying about ourselves. If we turn up we can be a match for everyone in this league, it’s just a case of doing that more consistently.”
Sam Belcher
Key information
Kirkby Road has a large, free on-site car park, and we have both cash and card turnstiles available.
Adults: £7 members, £8 non-members
Concessions: £5 members, £6 non-members
Under 16s: Members go free, £2 non-members
