Following a disappointing festive period that started so well, Welling United need to bounce back quickly to avoid dropping down the league.

On Saturday they entertain Truro City at Park View Road in what could be another tough battle.

It has been a difficult spell for Welling since the start of December has they have claimed just four points out of the last eighteen. On Boxing Day they were outstanding and the scoreline in their home game against Dartford could have been a lot heavier than two-nil.

However. Since then they have suffered two one-nil defeats, first at home to Concord Rangers then in the return fixture at Dartford.

Back in August, Welling visited the West country to play Truro City, albeit at Torquay United’s Plaimoor ground rather than in Cornwall. Thierry Audel put Welling ahead after fifteen minutes and the Wings controlled the first half but didn’t score again.

After the interval the hosts came back into it and levelled through Niall Thompson. Bradley Goldberg restored Welling’s lead and it looked as though they were going to claim all three points until Jared Lewington levelled deep into injury time.

Since then, Truro have changed their manager and it seems to have paid dividends as they have started to pull away from the drop zone. In their last five away games they have won two, at Hungerford Town and Chelmsford City, drawn one, and lost two..They also suffered two defeats over the Christmas period, but both were at league leaders Torquay United.

In last year’s corresponding game at Park View Road Welling and Truro again shared the points. Jack Parkinson put Welling ahead but Cody Cooke equalised soon after. Tyler Harvey put Truro ahead early in the second half but a trademark Jack Jebb free kick ensured that Welling got something out of it.

Jebb’s season long injury means that he won’t be able to repeat the feat this time around, and Nassim L’Ghoul is also expected to be out for a while following a hamstring problem sustained at Dartford on New Year’s Day. However, Steve King has plenty of quality in his squad and it will give another member an opportunity to claim the shirt.

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.