Match Preview: Warrington Town vs South Shields

South Shields travel to Warrington Town on Saturday for a meeting between two of Vanarama National League North's new boys (3pm kick-off).

After five years as promotion adversaries, the pair were promoted from the Pitching In Northern Premier League together last season.

Both have adapted well to life at their new level, with Shields sitting third and Warrington 15th, closer in points to the play-off spots than the relegation zone.

The Mariners are without a win in their last two matches, having been eliminated from the FA Cup by Leek Town before a goalless draw with Hereford last Saturday.

Warrington are unbeaten in their last three, and drew 1-1 with Alfreton Town last time out.

Julio's thoughts

Shields manager Julio Arca is expecting another difficult test for his side at Cantilever Park.

He said: “We’ve got a hard game coming up at Warrington.

“A lot of the lads have played there and know how tough it’s going to be, but we’ve done the right things this week and prepared well for the match.

“We have a strong squad available to us and the only sad thing about that is that you have to leave some players out of the squad.

“We have a lot of games coming up in the next month, though, and we will have to use the full squad during this period.”

Arca was satisfied with the performance against Hereford last time out, but is hoping his side will have greater success in finding a breakthrough against Warrington.

He added: “We found it hard to break Hereford’s back line. They defended well and we had spells when we created chances, but it got more difficult in the second half.

“The lads worked really hard. It would have been ideal to get three points, but that point could prove to be important come the end of the season.

“Every game in this league is difficult.”

Team news

Shields are hoping to have a close to full-strength squad available for the match, with no new injury concerns reported.

Information for supporters

Kick-off at Cantilever Park, which has a post code of WA4 2RS, is at 3pm.

Admission prices at the gate are £15 for adults, £10 for concessions and £3 for under-16s. Discounts are available on tickets bought in advance from Warrington’s website. Click here to secure yours.

Commentary will be provided by Chris May and Ronnie Peet on the Mariners Live Mixlr channel, which can be accessed by clicking here.