The Mariners travel to Buxton after a 2-1 triumph over promotion-rivals Chorley.
South Shields hit the road again after overcoming 3rd place Chorley on Tuesday night.
The scoring was opened by Aaron Martin in the 21st minute before Carlton Ubaezuono levelled for the visitors shortly after the second half kicked off.
Loanee Dylan Stephenson then provided one of the highlights of the season, scoring in the 4th minute of injury time to seal all 3 points for the (then) out-of-form Mariners.
The hosts for Saturday’s fixture are in a great run of form at the minute as they have won 3 of their last 5 league fixtures with their last 2 games both being wins, 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Regardless of their form, however, they are still 2 points and 3 league positions worse off than Shields who find themselves in 11th place as of this moment.
The main dangerman for the Hosts is undisputably Diego De Girolamo who has previously been at both Sheffield United and Bristol City.
What is more impressive about him however is that from 2013 to 2014 he represented Italy at U18s to U20s level. In 27 games this season he has an impressive 13 goals, making him Buxton’s leading scorer.
In the previous fixture between the 2 teams, Shields came out on top, winning 1-0. Paul Blackett scored the only goal that day.
Elliott's Thoughts
Dickman was questioned on the remaining 8 games of the season and how important they will be to the club.
Shields find themselves in a good position to creep into the playoffs as they are only 5 points outside of it with a game in hand on teams above.
Elliott said, “As a team and a club we are all on the same page, it’s been a good season so far but if we can build on Saturday, I believe we will be up there come the end of the campaign.”.
Dylan Stephenson impressed during his time in South Tyneside with 5 goals in 10 appearances.
Dickman has worked with Dylan previously at Newcastle United and has been full of praise for him in the past.
Dickman had this to say regarding Stephenson’s development: “As a player we have seen a great improvement in Dylan, he is a lot more confident in how he plays and I’m excited to see how his career unfolds.”.
For the most part, Elliott expressed the same attitude towards the Buxton fixture as he has done for all of the games under his time at the helm.
“We continue to build confidence and Tuesday certainly helped us with that, we have trained hard and we know what needs to be done. If our game plan comes off or not is completely down to us.”.
Team News
Jordy Mongoy has signed a loan deal with Hastings United until the end of the season.
Information for Supporters
The game will take place on the 16th of March 2024 at 3 pm. The Tarmac Silverlands Stadium, Buxton, Derbyshire (SK17 6QH)
Although the game will not be segregated, the Railway End is strictly for home supporters only.