Boreham Wood's celebrations from their memorable FA Cup third round win on Saturday will not last too long, as they return to National League action against Wealdstone on Tuesday evening.
Both sides have rarely featured in the league over the past couple of months due to numerous postponements caused by COVID-19, but their midweek meeting looks set to go ahead with their focus at opposite ends of the table.
Match preview
With just three days between fixtures, Tuesday's hosts Boreham Wood cannot enjoy their historic 2-0 win over AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup third round for too long.
The excellent result against their League One opponents, who are 36 places above Boreham in the footballing pyramid, saw Luke Garrard's men through to the fourth round of the cup for the first time in their history.
Tyrone Marsh and Jacob Mendy were the standout performers in an all-round fantastic team display, and it was the former who set the Wood on their way inside 10 minutes with a clinical move and finish.
Garrard's men were stubborn and organised against their third-tier visitors, before sealing their progression in the final few minutes when Adrian Clifton netted the second within a minute of coming off the bench.
Attentions must quickly return to league action however, with Boreham well in the mix for potential promotion to the football league.
Although they have only featured twice in the National League since November 23 due to various postponements, Boreham head into Tuesday's clash in sixth place, just five points off Halifax Town at the summit, despite having played up to four games fewer than the sides above them in the table.
The hosts prepare for their meeting with Wealdstone in fine form though, with Saturday's memorable FA Cup win extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches across all competitions, with seven of these coming in league action, as they look to extend their impressive streak and continue the hunt for promotion.
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Meanwhile, visitors Wealdstone look set to return to action on Tuesday for the first time since December 18, with December 11 being their last National League fixture.
Saturday's fixture with Yeovil Town was rescheduled due to their opponent's FA Cup commitments, whilst the previous three, including the original trip to Boreham's Meadow Park, were cancelled due to various COVID-19 outbreaks.
The three-week break has allowed manager Stuart Maynard and his staff to hit the reset button and work on plenty of improvements on the training ground.
Prior to the cancellations, the Stones found themselves on a poor run of four consecutive defeats, including being on the wrong end of a humiliating cup upset to Needham Market by a 2-1 scoreline in the FA Trophy last time out.
The three successive losses in the National League before that have left Maynard's side down in 18th place in the table, just three places and six points above Weymouth in the drop zone.
With a tough trip to promotion-hopefuls Boreham Wood on Tuesday, Wealdstone will be hoping their break has given them the chance to freshen up and return to action with a new lease of life in order to lift themselves away from danger at the wrong end of the table.
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Team News
Boreham could be set to name the same starting 11 as the one that produced the fantastic display required to knock Wimbledon out of the cup on Saturday.
Taye Ashby-Hammond has seen his loan spell from Championship side Fulham extended in the past week, so he should continue in goal behind the back three of Will Evans, David Stephens and Jamal Fyfield.
Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Ricketts will captain the side from the centre of the field, and Scott Boden and Marsh should keep their place up front despite the impact of Clifton off the bench at the weekend.
As for Wealdstone, they continue their search for a goalkeeper on loan ahead of the trip, with first-choice George Wickens serving the final game of this three-match suspension.
Eighteen-year-old Alfie Marigliani will deputise if a loan signing cannot be made, in what is a side short of options due to various absences.
David Sesay is away on international duty at AFCON, Andrew Eleftheriou and Rhys Browne are definitely ruled out through injury, and Charlie Cooper and Jack Cook join Wickens on the suspensions list.
However, Medy Elito, Nikola Tavares and Jaydn Mundle-Smith could all return from previous injury absences.
Boreham Wood possible starting lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Evans, Stephens, Fyfield; Smith, Rees, Ricketts, Mafuta, Mendy; Marsh, Boden
Wealdstone possible starting lineup:
Marigliani; McAvoy, Okimo, Tavares, Wishart; Dyer; Fasanmade, Charles, Buse, Mascoll; Umerah
We say: Boreham Wood 2-0 Wealdstone
Although Boreham have had little time between their memorable FA Cup win and this clash, they should be in better shape than their visitors on Tuesday, with Wealdstone not being in action for over three weeks.
As well as fitness, the hosts are in far better form heading into the encounter and possess the greater quality, so it should be a comfortable win for Boreham at Meadow Park.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Boreham Wood win with a probability of 67.74%. A draw had a probability of 19.2% and a win for Wealdstone had a probability of 13.09%.
The most likely scoreline for a Boreham Wood win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.18%) and 2-1 (9.72%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.11%), while for a Wealdstone win it was 0-1 (4.27%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Boreham Wood would win this match.
