Again, for the second game in a row, we kept a clean sheet with another super strong defensive performance from our new backline of Jared Hodgkiss and Kevin Nicholson. They have really give us a more solid look but the trade off is that we now look less adventurous going from deep and there is a tendency to hoof the ball over the top for Nathan Blissett to run onto but, sadly, not control very well. Hopefully he'll learn to master that part of his game one day.
We should still be at almost full strength for the game, and with only Josh O'Keefe missing on Tuesday with a foot injury, that will probably also be the case tomorrow.
Dartford have only gained one point so far in their first two games. Last Saturday they lost 2-1 at home to Wrexham and on Tuesday evening they travelled the short distance to Woking and kept a 1-0 lead almost to the end until Guiseppe Sole stole in to grab a late equaliser. With some new players joining them during the close season they'll be hoping to do as well against us as they did last season when they got the double over us with a 3-0 win down at Princes Park and then in January a 2-1 win at Aggborough.
The new players bought in includes Rory McAuley following his release from Cambridge Utd following their promotion back into the Football League last season. Others signing for them are Harry Crawford, Luke Daley, Jason Brown and Tom Bradbrook - the brother of Elliot Bradbrook who has been with the Darts for a few years now. Also coming in on the eve of the season was defender Peter Sweeney from Bury.
I'm expecting us to carry on with the good start we're having and earn another three points from this game. I can see them being a more difficult proposition that Alfreton were the other night and maybe not three goals this time. A 1-0 win would do me.
Teams:
Harriers from:
Lewis, Singh, Hodgkiss, J Green, Storer, Dunkley, Nicholson, Gowling, Grimes, Williams, O'Keefe, Byrne, Obeng, Johnson, Verma, Blissett, Gittings, Gash, Reid, Styche, Hales.
Dartford from:
Brown, Ibrahim, A. Green, McAuley, E Bradbrook, Cornhill, Hayes, Noble, Daley, Pugh, Harris, Mitchel-King, Collier, Sweeney, Crawford, Burns, T Bradbrook, Anidugbe, Akinwande, Scantlebury, Adam, Vint, Dembele.
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