One week on from their F.A. Cup meeting, Welling United again host Whitehawk in the Vanarama National League South.

Last Saturday’s meeting was far from a classic. Just three minutes had passed when Reece Connolly put the visitors ahead and there were very few clear cut chances after that.

Ali Fuseini had a shot from outside the penalty area pushed onto the post and wide for Welling.

At the other end, Chris Lewington twice saved from Whitehawk’s strikers. Apart from that, there were few other moments of real excitement.Ali Fuseini had a shot from outside the penalty area pushed onto the post and wide for Welling.

If it wasn’t bad enough that Welling were knocked out of the cup, and a possible money spinning game with a big league club, Oxford City’s win at Gosport Borough put them back into the relegation zone.

Their Brighton based opponents’ away form hasn’t been much better than Welling’s at home. They started the season with a 3-1 defeat at Weston-super-Mare before drawing 1-1 at Ebbsfleet United.

That was followed by a 3-1 loss at St. Albans City and then a 2-1 defeat at Bath City. Finally, they recorded a 2-0 win at Hampton and Richmond Borough before going down to the same score at Hemel Hempstead Town.

However, their most recent away league result was a 3-0 trouncing of Bishop’s Stortford and their cup victory last weekend will mean they turn up full of confidence.

To boost them further, they will have leading scorer Danny Mills back from suspension and Sergio Torres from suspension.

There should be players returning for Welling too. Mark Goldberg admitted that he made a mistake by playing a player out of position in the first half in the cup game as he looked to how he could improve his team’s chances in the league fixture.

He said “We can start with the team that started the second half and hopefully we can get Pierre Dubois-Joseph and Harry Crawford back from injury. There’s nothing wrong with the quality of our squad.”

Also available for a possible Welling debut is Christian Nanetti now that his signing has gone through after a delay. Dean Leacock is also available again should Goldberg wish to make a change there.

One thing is for sure, Welling need to pick up points, and pick them up quickly.