Preview: Ashton United vs Warrington Town

Warrington Town make the short trip to Hurst Cross this Saturday to face Ashton United in the Northern Premier League.

The Yellows endured a disappointing 4-1 defeat to Cleethorpes Town on Tuesday, following last weekend's 2-0 loss at home to Bamber Bridge, making it their first back-to-back league defeat since late August.

Paul Carden's men will be aiming to make amends tomorrow, as they face another promotion hopeful in Ashton United. The Yellows defeated the Robins 2-1 in the reverse fixture back in October, thanks to goals from Reece Daly and Niall Watson.

Below, we've compiled everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.

Team news

Midfielder Reece Daly was substituted after suffering a concussion during the first half of Tuesday's defeat to Cleethorpes Town. He will be unavailable for 21 days, as per concussion protocols.

Striker Kallan Murphy, who received a red card in midweek, will be available for selection this weekend, with his three-match ban, which is being appealed by the club, only coming into effect next weekend.

Troy Bourne will also be available despite picking up his 10th yellow card of the season, but will miss next Saturday's fixture against Stocksbridge Park Steels through suspension.

Goalkeeper Jamie Jones has been released to explore a full-time opportunity with a Championship Club, while midfielder Liam Brazier has returned to Port Vale following the expiration of his loan deal with the club.

Paul Carden preview

Article first published in the Warrington Guardian

Warrington Town would appear to be a perfect case study for how quickly things can seemingly change.

A week ago, a seven-match unbeaten run had seen their knocks at the play-off door get increasingly loud while manager Paul Carden said their squad was the healthiest it has been all season.

Now, though, back-to-back defeats has brought them crashing back to Earth and is set to cost them the services of several key players through injury and suspension.

Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at Cleethorpes Town was damaging both in terms of the scoreline and the cost in personnel, with striker Kallan Murphy set to begin a three-match ban for his first-half sending-off while top scorer Reece Daly will have a head injury assessed.

While Murphy’s suspension will not start until after Saturday’s trip to Ashton United, Daly could be missing for up to three weeks if he is deemed not to have satisfied concussion protocol.

With loan deals for forwards Joe Rodwell-Grant and Katia Kouyate also nearing their end, Carden now finds himself in a tricky position but has called on his squad to refocus for the sake of their promotion bid – they now sit five points outside the play-offs in ninth but have played more games than every side around them.

“All of a sudden, we’ve gone from being on a really good run to two defeats on the spin,” said the Town boss, whose side were also beaten 2-0 at home by Bamber Bridge on Saturday.

“We’ve quickly got to dust ourselves down and refocus because the games don’t stop.

“We still want to be looking up, we have to perform better than we did on Saturday and certainly better than we did on Tuesday – that’s for definite.

“We’ll obviously now lose Kal for three games after Saturday, and we’ll have to see on Reece Daly with regards to whether it’s a concussion protocol.

“That could be a big blow, and then we’ve got some loan players whose loans are nearly ending.

“We’ve gone from having a couple too many to being light so there’s decisions to be made.

“This is how quickly football turns – confidence is a massive factor and we have to get back on it.”

Match information

Saturday's Northern Premier League fixture at Hurst Cross kicks off at 3pm. Match tickets, available to buy online or at the turnstiles, are priced as follows:

Online ticket prices –

• Adults: £14
• Seniors (Over 65s): £10
• Student (16-21+): £10
• Concessions (12-15yrs): £8
• Children (Under 12): £1

For supporters who cannot attend, live audio coverage will be available on Yellows Radio.