Preview: Fylde vs. Gateshead

Sports Mole previews Thursday’s National League clash between Fylde and Gateshead, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Gateshead will attempt to claim a fifth consecutive victory when they travel to Mill Farm for Thursday’s clash with Fylde.

The hosts occupy 16th place in the National League table, while the visitors are currently sitting in sixth position.

Match preview
Fylde boosted their survival hopes by rounding off March with consecutive victories over Oxford City and Oldham Athletic.

Unfortunately for the Coasters, they were unable to record a third straight win in Saturday’s disappointing away meeting with Ebbsfleet Town.

Gerald McCullion 85th-minute effort ultimately proved to be a mere consolation as Fylde fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat following a brace from Ebbsfleet’s Ben Chapman.

Despite experiencing a frustrating result at the weekend, Fylde are still well-placed to avoid the drop with five points separating them from the bottom four.

They will certainly fancy their chances of adding three points to their tally against Gateshead, having won each of their last eight competitive meetings with the North East side.

Gateshead are sitting in sixth spot and four points clear of eight-placed Aldershot Town after recording three consecutive league wins over Altrincham, Hartlepool United and Rochdale.

The Heed extended their winning run in Saturday’s FA Trophy semi-final against Macclesfield Town, with Ben Worman and Callum Whelan grabbing a goal apiece to send their side to Wembley.

Rob Elliot’s side were due to return to league action on Tuesday, before their scheduled home game against Aldershot was postponed at late notice due to a waterlogged pitch.

They will now quickly turn their focus to Thursday’s away trip, where they will attempt to beat Fylde for the first time since picking up a 1-0 win in an FA Trophy fixture in February 2016.

Gateshead will be looking to use their firepower to claim all three points, having racked up 83 goals in 41 league matches this season – a tally that has only been bettered by Barnet and Chesterfield.

Fylde National League form:

Gateshead National League form:

Gateshead form (all competitions):

Team News
Fylde boss Chris Beech could bring Sam Graham into the side to replace Harry Davis, who is suspended after being sent off at the weekend.

Nick Haughton missed the defeat to Ebbsfleet on compassionate grounds, but he could return to the squad in time for Thursday’s fixture.

Bryce Hosannah will have to be assessed after he was forced to sit out at the weekend due to a knock he picked up in training.

As for Gateshead, Elliot is set to recall goalkeeper Nathan Harness, who arrived on loan from League Two side MK Dons in March.

The quartet of Louis Storey, Regan Booty, Kieron Evans, Kain Adom could return to the side after dropping out of the lineup for Saturday’s FA Trophy success.

Joe Cook, Will Johnson and Sonny Fish will all be hoping to be involved in some capacity after joining the club at the end of last month.

Fylde possible starting lineup:
Richardson; Barrett, Graham, Long, Conway; Whitehead, Mitchell; Ustabasi, Haughton, Walker; Ormerod,

Gateshead possible starting lineup:
Harness; Tinkler, Richardson, Storey; Adom, Booty, Francis, Hannant; Evans, Worman; Brown

We say: Fylde 1-2 Gateshead
Gateshead are currently enjoying a fine run of form, and with momentum in their favour, we think the visitors will do enough to claim all three points on Thursday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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