Alfreton Town head to basement side Blyth Spartans in match 16 of the National League North season, a crucial three points is up for grabs in a battle at the bottom. Kick off is 3pm behind closed doors at Croft Park.

It will be the first fixture of 2021 for the Reds with both sides finding themselves in the lower barrels of the league table. Alfreton will be desperate to return to action after the recent postponement against Boston last Saturday and in turn pull away from the division's bottom club and get themselves back up the table.

We would like to wish all our supporters a very Happy New Year and we hope it brings success for everyone. 2020 has been a year like no other and it's hard to believe normality once existed last January. We thank all of our supporters for their amazing and continuous support throughout an extraordinary year and we hope 2021 is a far better one for us all.

Fixtures at the Impact Arena also remain behind closed doors following the country's placement into a new national lockdown. Elite sport has been allowed to continue and fixtures at the Impact Arena remain behind closed doors as the season continues. However we hope to welcome our supporters back to the Impact Arena and back on the road as soon as possible and as soon as government guidelines will allow to do so.

The Reds now find themselves in 21st place in the league table and played out a 3-3 thriller with Kettering on Monday 28/12, as the Reds win-less run stretched to nine games in all competitions and eight in the league. It was quite the contest and Alfreton got off to the perfect start with just five minutes gone when Jake Day fired a low finish past Collin inside the box.

The Poppies responded when Ryan Fryatt helped a shot on it's way from the edge of the box on 35, as he got a touch to send the ball past George Willis despite George's out stretched hand. We would retake the lead after just 45 seconds when Elliott Reeves cross was tapped home at the far post by Captain Dan Bradley on 46.

A second equaliser came however on 53 when Callum Powell hit a strike which went in off the post inside the box following a cross from the left. The goals continued when a wonderful individual goal from Reeves saw him finish low into the far corner after checking inside the box on 81.

However just when perhaps the elusive win looked to be edging closer Powell was brought down inside the box on 84 and the midfielder stepped up to convert the penalty to ensure Kettering left with a point.

It was yet another game that went away from the Reds after taking the lead three times and creating heaps of chances but the disappointment to be pegged back three times was certainly at the front of minds come full time.

Alfreton will once again look to seek three points tomorrow and prevent the win-less run reaching a milestone figure of ten games in all competitions.

We head into the game win-less in our last eight league games and nine in all competitions. We have drawn three of the last four league games, however just two wins have been registered from 15 league games with one win at the Impact and one win away from home this season.

Our seven league defeats is only beaten by Curzon and Guiseley with eight and opponents Blyth with ten.

OFTON AWAY: Alfreton will be aiming for just a second away win of the season with our last success coming at Telford (0-1) back on the 31st October. Since then we have lost five of our last six on the road.

CROFT PARK RUN: The Reds are unbeaten in the last four meetings at Croft Park in all competitions (W2, D2).

Visitors Blyth sit in 22nd place in the league table with six points from 14 games played, they are six points behind us but do have a game in hand. Three points for the hosts tomorrow will bring them closer to the Reds and in turn grab just their second league win of the season.

Their current playing record stands at: P14, W1, D3, L10.

The Spartans head into the contest win-less in the last eight league games with their last and only win thus far coming at Curzon Ashton back on 7th November, 0-3. Blyth have the division's worst defence with 36 goals conceded and have scored the fewest amount of league goals this season with just ten, Alfreton have the second worst defence with 27 conceded and just 15 goals scored.

Home form has seen the hosts yet to win a fixture at Croft Park this season, Blyth are seven league games without a win at home.

Venue:
Croft Park - Behind Closed Doors

THIS FIXTURE WILL BE LIVE STREAMED:
Blyth will be live streaming the fixture for £8 details of how to order and access the stream can be found at:
http://www.blythspartans.com/live-stream-alfreton-town-h-national-league-north/

League Form (Last five):
Reds - L-D-D-L-D
Blyth - L-L-L-D-L

Blyth Last Fixture:
Monday 28th December 2020: Darlington 6-0 Blyth Spartans (NLN)

Reds Last Fixture:
Monday 28th December 2020: Reds 3-3 Kettering (NLN)

Last Meeting:
Tuesday 3rd December 2019: Reds 1-3 Blyth Spartans (FA Trophy 3QR Replay)
The last FA Trophy outing for the Reds came in the 2019/20 season as we drew 1-1 at Croft Park in the 3QR. However the Spartans blew us away in the Replay with Callum Roberts, Dylan McGlade and Michael Sweet scoring in the opening 17 minutes. Amari Morgan-Smith’s sublime volley threatened a comeback soon after half-time but Blyth held on to progress.