The Coasters settled on a windy Tuesday night with a solid point against a resilient Sutton United in the Vanarama National League.

Now, attention turns to the FA Trophy this weekend as we look to begin our defence of the trophy when Curzon Ashton are the visitors to Mill Farm.

The squad is in good shape ahead of this weekend’s clash. Kurt Willoughby has stepped up his recovery from injury this week, but Jordan Williams misses out through suspension after his red card on Tuesday.

The Opposition

Name: Curzon Ashton

Form: WDWWL

Nickname: The Nash

Ground: Tameside Stadium

League Position: 19^th 

The Nash play in the Vanarama National League North –  one league below AFC Fylde.

They currently sit just outside the relegation zone, but results have picked up recently for them.

Curzon have been in sticky situation since mid-August – losing nine out 11 matches. Since the start of November, however, results have picked up, going unbeaten in their last four matches.

This has meant the Nash have pushed themselves seven points clear of the drop zone, and this weekend’s match will give them a little distraction from league action.

In charge of Curzon Ashton is former professional footballer, Mark Bradshaw. The former Blackpool man has been in charge since 2018.

Before making the step up to first-team manager, Bradshaw was head coach at the club for over a decade.

Head-to-Head

This will be the sixth time the two sides have met since 2013 – after both faced each other numerous times in the Conference North and once in the FA Trophy.

FA Trophy – 2013/14

16/11/13 – Curzon Ashton 2-1 AFC Fylde

Conference North – 2015/16

29/8/15 – Curzon Ashton 0-2 AFC Fylde

28/12/15 – AFC Fylde 1-2 Curzon Ashton

Conference North – 2016/17

6/9/16 – AFC Fylde 4-1 Curzon Ashton

21/1/17 – Curzon Ashton 3-2 AFC Fylde

Games To Keep An Eye On

There’s plenty of games happening in the FA Trophy this weekend.

We have picked a few to keep an eye on in the FA Trophy this weekend for potential second-round opponents, providing we progress in the competition.

Chesterfield Vs Notts County (1pm kick-off)

Atherton Collieries Vs Barrow

Barnet Vs Weymouth

Dorking Wanderers Vs Bromley

Eastleigh Vs Yate Town

Enfield Town Vs Ebbsfleet United

Farsley Celtic Vs Altrincham

Harrogate Vs Hartlepool United

South Shields Vs Southport

Torquay Vs Aldershot Town

Yeovil Vs Welling United

*All 3pm kick-offs unless stated otherwise

Coverage

You can follow the game via Twitter as we provide regular updates, post-match interviews and more.

There will be full match commentary on Coasters live with your commentary team of Jack Connor and Martin Curran.

The commentary team will bring you pre-match build up, full game commentary and both half-time and full-time reaction.

You can find commentary on mixlr.com/afcfylde