Three cup games in a row have given Welling United a break from Vanarama National business however they return to league action at Guiseley on Saturday.
Tuesday evening’s 4-0 victory over Grays Athletic in their replay has sent the Wings into the F.A. Cup first round where they will visit Barwell in Leicestershire.
Before then, there are an important three points up for grabs in Yorkshire.
There is just one place between the two teams with Welling in 17th place, two points ahead of the league new boys who were promoted from the Conference North at the end of last season.
They met at Park View Road on the opening game of the season and Welling claimed the spoils. Sahr Kabba, on debut, scored the only goal of the match when knocking in Kevin Lokko’s header back.
Of Guiseley’s four recorded victories this season, three have been at home. After losing at Welling, they won their first two games on their own patch, both 1-0, against Altrincham and Kidderminster Harriers.
In mid-September, they claimed their other win at Nethermoor Park, defeating F.C. Halifax Town 2-1.
George Porter’s injury may continue to sideline him, but the Welling players who had to be replaced in Welling’s midweek replay victory over Grays Athletic may well be in contention for a return.
Wings’ manager Loui Fazakerley stated “Kabbs (Kabba) felt his hamstrings and it was precautionary. He felt if he really opened up and went into a full maximum sprint, it might go.
“Fags (Zac Fagan), he hasn’t played much football. He covered a lot of ground. He worked hard. His body was feeling the effects of that. We brought him off because of that.
“(Ben) Jefford felt a little bit of pain in his knee. With the game being wrapped up, we thought about that. We’ve got to protect the players and look towards the weekend.”
Cup-tied Nortei Nortey, plus loanees Tom King, Harry Lee and Sandro Semedo all come back into the running although they may have a fight to get back into the team.
Fazakerley confirmed “We’ve got a bit of a headache. We’ve got some players who have stepped in and done very, very well. It’s a nice headache to have.”
Picture supplied by Dave Budden.