Match Preview

Ahead of Saturday's trip to last season’s play-off semi-finalists Marine, Whitby Town manager Nathan Haslam has labelled the away contest as "an opportunity to go out and play our best game."

The Seasiders head into the Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division encounter in good spirits following a comfortable 3-1 away victory against Guiseley on Tuesday night and take on Neil Young’s side, in their first league Saturday away fixture of the 2023/24 campaign (kick-off 3pm).

Summer signings Jacob Gratton and Alfie Doherty made their own individual impacts against the Lions, with one netting and the other grabbing a hat-trick of assists, whilst Connor Simpson got off the mark with Daniel Rowe netting his second of the season.

On the potential selection headache that faces him at the Marine Travel Arena, Haslam said…

“I think it goes without saying that I’ve got some headaches. When you’ve got a squad that’s good, you pick a team that suits the game and Marine is a very, very tough one.

“They’re on the crest of the wave after a 5-1 win against FC United - another good team.

“It’s going to be very hard to pick the starting eleven but the eleven that go out there will do a job I’m sure.”

On the potential footballing battle that awaits…

“We’re a good footballing side but so are FC United and Marine demolished them.

"We’ve seen footage and we’ve seen footage of previous games. The one thing I can say about Marine is that they’re very efficient. They’re very good defensively but they also press high so they’re very similar to ourselves.

“I think the game’s going to be very nip and tuck and it will be down for the two forward lines.”

On the prospect of playing in front a bumper crowd at the Marine Travel Arena…

“It can go one of two ways. They’ll have the crowd behind them, especially after Tuesday night.

“It’s up to us to silence that. The longer we can silence them for the better as they can get frustrated because they want to see their team winning.

“Our lads have got to deal with the home support. Hopefully we can adapt to that and go out there and play our game.”

On the midweek performances of Alfie Doherty and Connor Simpson…

“Alfie will the first to say that’s he’s not scoring but he’s setting them up. Credit to him, he’s 19, he’s come in and fitted in straight away.

“He’s producing on the football which is the most important thing. It’s just maintaining it for him, and us looking after him at the same time because it is a physical league but at the moment it’s very hard to leave him out with the form that he’s in.

“Connor’s playing with a smile on his face. He’s comfortable, he knows he’s wanted, and we’ve given him the confidence to go out there and perform the best he can. He seems to be producing which is good.

“I think something that’s helped that is the introduction of Jerome Greaves as he adds healthy competition to the squad as we move forward.”