After two games in charge, Dean Frost has had a good look at his team in competitive action.

There were spells in the game at F.C. Halifax Town when Welling were dominant, and they showed their fighting spirit to claim a point after they had fallen behind to a goal against the run of play..

At Braintree on Tuesday, Welling went behind to a bad goal defensively but were again the better team until the Iron had Sean Marks dismissed for elbowing debutant Ian Gayle.

That resulted in the hosts leaving one man up front whilst defending their lead by any means. Although Harry Lee’s audacious long range effort rattled the crossbar and Michael Bakare’s shot came out off the inside of the post, Welling were unable to find an equaliser.

Already missing injured centre-backs Zach Fagan, Kevin Lokko and Harry Osborne, the last thing Frost needed was for another to be ruled out. Gayle’s nose was broken by Marks’ assault but there is still hope that it was not a bad enough break to preclude him from Saturday’s game.

Following training sessions on Thursday and Friday, Frost will have a firm idea on his first choice starting line up for the big game. Sam Corne’s groin strain may have cleared up in time for him to come into contention but George Porter is expected to be out for a minimum of six weeks.

Victory on Saturday would give Welling a massive boost. Visitors Altrincham are five points clear of the Wings at present so the stakes are high for both teams.

Even though the season is well into the second half, it’s the first meeting between the two clubs this term.

Last season’s corresponding fixture earned a place in the history books for Welling United. Not only was it the first match in charge for Loui Fazakerley, Matt McEntegart and Paul Barnes, it was also the first time B.T. Sports visited Park View Road for a league fixture.

Sadly, the Wings did not rise to the occasion and stumbled to a disappointing 1-0 defeat. Until Joe Healy’s wild tackle got him sent off in the 54^th minute, the game was evenly matched but once Welling were reduced to ten men, their lack of confidence became apparent and one goal was enough. to stretch their number of consecutive defeats to eight.

Substitute Ryan Crowther scored the all important goal for the Robins to stretch Welling’s number of consecutive defeats to eight.

Altrincham have won just three league games since 3^rd October, however with Welling having not tasted victory in the Vanarama National since 13^th October, it is likely to be a tense encounter.

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.