Following three consecutive victories Welling United host St. Albans City on Saturday hoping to extend their run.

First they visited Oxford City and came away with a one-nil victory, before a thrilling victory against full-time title favourites Torquay United. After that match Wings manager Steve King suggested that it would mean little if they didn’t put in a good performance at Hungerford Town on the following Saturday.

Although battling to avoid relegation, the Crusaders made it far from easy for Welling and Dan Wilks had to save a penalty before Danny Mills scored the only goal of the game when finishing from Bradley Goldberg’s cross. Not only was it Welling’s third consecutive win but also their third consecutive clean sheet.

Saturday’s visitors St. Albans will put up another tough challenge. Although in eleventh place, they are only seven points outside the play-off places and will be just as keen to win the points. Their matches haven’t been quiet affairs. In their thirty-one games they have scored exactly fifty goals and conceded fifty goals.

Away from home they have won five, drawn three and lost eight. In their six away games in 2019, they have won one, at Hampton, drawn two and lost three with a five-nil defeat at Hungerford being the most severe.

When Welling visited St Albans in October the Wings went down two–nil defeat. Khale Da Costa put the Saints ahead in just the ninth minute and David Moyo made sure of the points midway through the second half. That ended a Welling winning run so they will be keen to ensure that history is not repeated.

Last season’s corresponding game started quietly but Welling had the better of the first half so it was a little against the run of play when St Albans went ahead from the spot five minutes into the second half. However less than a minute after David Noble’s spot kick, Goldberg levelled.

Within five minutes Welling were ahead when Jack Parkinson got on the end of a Ryan Hall cross and Jamie Philpot rolled in a third after unselfish work by Goldberg.

In recent weeks injuries have stretched Welling’s small squad and they have not been able to fill their bench for the last eight games. Nassim L’Ghoul has been out since pulling up with a hamstring injury at Dartford on New Year’s Day but he has been hopeful of returning for the last three weeks.

King will be hoping that Thierry Audel is fit to stake a claim for a starting place having missed out at Hungerford as Anthony Acheampong won’t be available to play. However, King has been able to add former Crawley Town full back Olanrewaju Oyebanjo to the squad as he is now fit after eighteen months out injured.

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.