Our 18th away game of the season takes us to Northamptonshire with a trip to the aptly named 'Dog and Duck Stadium', home to Wellingborough Town FC.

Whilst we finally ended our search for a victory on Saturday at the 9th time of asking, with a 2-1 success at Rugby Town, our opponents, 'The Doughboys' tasted defeat for just the 2nd time in 16, to dent their play-off charge with a 2-1 defeat at Racing Club Warwick, who appointed a new management team just ahead of kick-off.

OPPOSITION
Jake Stone was appointed manager back in May 2019, and has guided the club to top 10 finishes in each of his completed 4 seasons. He was also awarded the Step 4 Manager Of The Month award in December last year on the back of 4 wins out of 4 for the month.
Averaging just over 250 at home, they play in a traditional yellow and blue home kit.

The Doughboys currently sit in 6th position in the Division, just outside the play-off zone with 7 games remaining.
From their 35 games this campaign, they have won 14, drew 10 and lost 11, picking up 52 points so far.

Conceding just 34 goals to date, just 3 sides have a meaner defence - and they are all inside the top 4.
Their home record is patchy, with 6 wins, 6 draws and 5 defeats from 17 games played.

FORM
Last weekends defeat at Warwick was on the back of 2 draws for Wellingborough, although having tasted defeat just twice since 22nd November, Wellingborough are a tough side to beat.
At home, only Belper Town have left with maximum points since the end of October, a sequence which reads P10 W5 D4 L1 F20 A9.

Their last 3 home games have all been low-scoring affairs with both the last 2 finishing 1-apiece (against Sutton Coldfield and Rugby Borough), whilst before that they recorded an impressive 1-0 victory against champions-elect Carlton Town, just 1 of the 2 games the run-away league leaders have lost in their last 17 games.

Long Eaton's win last time out at Rugby Town came as a welcome boost on the back of 8 winless games. Having lost just once in our last 4 outings (including 2 draws), we have climbed back up to 11th in the league table and with just 5 points separating 8th to 16th, points are needed to maintain a top half finish.

6 points separate the teams, with Wellingborough 6th on 52 points and The Blues 11th on 46.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
In the last meeting between the 2 teams, Long Eaton edged out The Doughboys 2-1 at Grange Park in November last year.
Leading scorer Evan Garnett opened the scoring mid-way through the first half, before the visitors responded with captain Lloyd Buckby scoring 10 minutes later. Jahvan Davidson-Miller's early second half strike would prove to be the match winner, in a game where Wellingborough used all 5 of their substitutes.

Our last visit to The Dog and Duck was on opening day of the 24/25 season. In a tight contest, the home side came out on top with the only goal of the game coming on 18 minutes, The Blues pressed for an equaliser but were unable to beat the home goalkeeper. From that starting line-up, Owen Betts, Jayden Cotterill, Callum Cocks and James Taylor all remain, with Evan Garnett coming on as a 2nd half substitute.

ADMISSION
The Dog and Duck Stadium is approximately a 25 minute walk from Wellingborough Train Station. Alternatively, a taxi takes around 6 minutes to the ground.
For SatNav users, the postcode is NN82DP.

Admission prices:
Adults £12
Concessions £9
13-16 £3
Under 12's FREE

Thank you to all our away supporters for your continued support.
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