Needham Market gunning for a hat-trick of wins

Fresh from back-to-back wins at high-flying Coalville Town and at home to Lowestoft Town, Richard Wilkins’ men hope to make it three on the bounce in the West Midlands.

The Bloomfields club have risen to ninth in the table, two points and three places better off than Halesowen, although The Yeltz have played a game less.

The Suffolk side have been indebted to last-ditch goals over the last seven days, both prompted by inspired substitutions.

Joe Marsden was unleashed off the bench to net a last minute winner in a 2-1 win at Coalville, while Colchester United loanee, Tariq Issa, on as a 61st minute substitute on Tuesday night, headed home an injury-time winner in a 1-0 success over Lowestoft.

“It makes big difference to win a couple of games in a row,” insisted Marketmen boss Wilkins.

“A couple of wins and everyone is feeling bubbly. We’re up in the top half of the table and now looking at making it three wins.

“I thought Tuesday night was very tight. Lowestoft shaded the first half, but we had about 70% of the game in the second half.

“Joe Marsden should have scored earlier with his chance, but it says a lot about us that we had five players in the box waiting for that late cross in the last minute.

“We were on the front foot at the end, so I think if any team deserved to win it, then it was ourselves. Tariq (Issa) is a talented and very tricky player, although his passing was not quite on.

“Now we have another long trip, to Halesowen. We’ve had several long journeys already, but at least we are getting them out of the way.

“Halesowen will be a big threat up top, with a striker of Lee Hughes’ calibre (ex-West Brom) leading the attack. Even at the age of 42, he is still very capable of scoring goals at this level,” added Wilkins.

Marsden is unavailable this weekend – he is attending a graduation ceremony – while injuries continue to rule out Jamie Griffiths and JJ Wilson.