After a gruelling schedule that had Welling United playing away for seven consecutive weekends, the Wings finally have a home game this Saturday.

Despite the lop-sidedness of the fixtures, Welling manager Loui Fazakerley does not want to make a big thing of it.

“We’ve been on the road quite a bit recently but it’s part of playing in this national league. The players are used to it now.”

Last Saturday, Welling went down 3-1 at Grimsby Town, the first time they have conceded three in a game this season. The score-line was tough on a Welling team who played well for no reward. “The score line was a little harsh as their third goal came from a swift counter as we were searching for an equaliser.” said Fazakerley.

“We went into the game pretty confident that we could get a positive result after the Forest Green game so was disappointing to come away with nothing. Saying that, Grimsby are a very good team with a big budget and will be fighting for automatic promotion this season so it’s no shame to lose to them away at their place.”

This Saturday’s visitors are Southport who will play their first game under new manager Dino Maamria. Earlier in the week, they parted company with previous manager Paul Carden following their heavy home defeat against Cheltenham Town last Saturday.

Southport have won just three times this season, 3-0 against Altrincham, 2-1 at Woking and  1-0 at Kidderminster. They have supplemented those victories with six draws leaving them in 22^nd place.

“Saturday is a must win game for us and the players know that.” Said Fazakerley. “It won’t add any extra pressure on them, though, as they go into every game believing they can win.”

The corresponding fixture was the final game of last season with Welling knowing that with their superior goal difference, they only had to equal Alfreton’s result at Bristol Rovers to stay up. News soon came through that the Derbyshire based team were going down heavily, they eventually lost 7-0, so Welling eased off and their game looked odds on to finish as a goal-less draw.

Steven Hewett had other ideas, however, and hit a spectacular effort into the top corner with twelve minutes remaining to allow the Sandgrounders to return home with all three points.

Fazakerley restated how much of an impact the Welling supporters can make. “It’s always nice to play at home. Hopefully the home crowd can really get behind us and make a difference.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.