After a month away Cray Wanderers return to action at Hayes Lane on Saturday afternoon when they entertain Potters Bar Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Tony Russell’s side suffered a surprise  4-0 defeat at Carshalton Athletic last weekend, ending a run of three straight wins, but they still sit seventh in the table with 31 points from 18 games played in their first season since promotion back to this level.

Potters Bar make the trip down from Hertfordshire on the back of a 4-2 home win over Brightlingsea Regent on Tuesday night, with striker Josh Hutchinson scoring a hat-trick, a result that moved them up to twelfth place with 24 points from 17 matches. The Scholars are in their second season at this level following promotion under current manager Adam Lee in 2018 from Division One North.    

Cray’s bad luck with injuries continued with captain Barney Williams going off early against Carshalton, with Tom Phipp and Karl Dent already missing from the line up. Midfielder Charles Etumnu left to join Whitstable Town last week, although Freddie Parker has returned from his loan spell at the same club to boost the squad’s attacking options.  

When the teams met at The Parkfield Stadium in August it ended 1-1 with both goals coming in the last five minutes of the match, Bradley Sach putting The Scholars in front on 85 minutes before Joe Taylor equalised for The Wands in the 90th. This time round it looks set to be an equally tightly contested game with both sides looking to keep within touching distance of the play off places as they head into the December fixtures.  

Entry for the game is £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, while season ticket holders of Premier League, Football League and National League clubs can see the match for only £5 on production of their season ticket at the gate.