MATCH PREVIEW: First ever opponents back in town

Stafford Rangers, Workington’s first ever opponents in the Northern Premier League, are back in town on Saturday (3pm) for match five of our NPL Premier Division campaign.

They were the team we met back in 1977 when, post Football League and the old Fourth Division, we started life in the Northern Premier League.

Rangers recorded a comfortable victory that day and will be looking for a tenth win in the series compared to the six successes Reds have enjoyed over the years.

We have met fourteen times under the NPL banner with a further eight encounters in Conference North.

Rangers have won twice and lost twice so far, overcoming FC United of Manchester (3-2) and Basford United (2-1) but losing to Lancaster City and Warrington Rylands (both 0-2). They are currently 9th in the early Premier Division table and, last season, finished a solid 12th!

Danny Grainger will be sifting through the injury list before naming his team but Aidy Roxburgh, Lewis Reilly and Bobby Carroll were the main doubts at Thursday’s training session.

Workington’s last win over Stafford was on the opening day of the 18-19 season when a Jason Walker goal was sufficient to secure a 1-0 win.

Sam Smith, Dan Wordsworth, Brad Hubbold and Conor Tinnion all played in the game. The return fixture resulted in a 1-1 draw.

• The Reds Development Squad and the Reds Ladies teams are not in action this weekend.