15-02-19 – Preview – Kidderminster Harriers Vs York City

The Harriers got their first win under the returning Mark Yates last week when they disposed of Chester FC with ease. The 4-1 scoreline was flattering to Chester because it should have been more and could have been if the obviously onside goal from Liam Truslove had been given. It was good to see Liam back in favour.

The game was made even more memorable for the fans who witnessed two fine displays from new players. Liam McAlinden, on loan from Cheltenham Town, gave a match winning show while we saw Milan Butterfield make his full debut with an assured performance that earned him rave reviews by all that watched. That showing has now earned him a contract with the Harriers for the next eighteen months.

We were also impressed here at Harriers Online too and he was the automatic choice to become our new sponsored player following the departure of James Baxendale during the week. We hope that Milan will do us proud and we also wish Baxo all the best at Nuneaton Borough after he joined them on a permanent basis yesterday.

Tomorrow we play York City and again they’re having another disappointing season. They’ve struggled near to the relegation zone for most of the season after being as high as seventh back in September. They dropped down to nineteenth in January but the arrival of a new manager, Steve Watson, has seen then rise to their current fifteenth place following a 2-0 home win against Ashton Utd last Saturday.

They have a couple of injuries to cope with. Dan Parslow received a head injury in the home defeat to Hereford FC two weeks ago and isn’t expected to be recovered enough to face the Harriers while Paddy McLaughlin (hamstring) will be assessed before the game to see if he’s fit to play. The former Harrier, Simon Heslop, is out for the remainder of the season following a knee injury that has needed a scan to see what work needs to be done on it.

Hopefully Yates will go with the same team that did so well last week but we might see Ashley Chambers make way for Ed Williams following Ed’s cameo appearance from the bench and Ashley’s all action performance that failed to yield a goal again. His header across for Declan Weeks goal was perfection but he hasn’t scored since his double beat Brackley Town back in early December. 

We still have a bit of a queue in the treatment room with James O’Connor, Tom Palmer and Billy Daniels still out while Russ Penn and Josh Heaton might make their comeback sooner than later. Kane Richards will also be available once again now that his three match ban is over and done with.

With a returning confidence around the club the fans are now starting to believe that we have now got over the most recent bad times under Neil MacFarlane and can look forward to some good times under Mark Yates. If Brackley Town, Altrincham and Boston Utd all lose tomorrow we could get back into the play off places and that would be a good sign.

Photo © KHFC

Teams:

Harriers from:

Hall, Palmer, Weaver, Taylor, Horsfall, O’Connor, Penn, Johnson, Heaton, McAlinden, Weeks, Stratford, Taylor-Randle, Truslove, Butterfield, Higginson, Austin, Chambers, Daniels, Ironside, Richards, Williams, Clayton-Phillips, White.

York City from:

Bartlett, Whitley, Bencherif, Bradbury, Dyer, Ferguson, Griffiths, Law, Mirfin, Newton, Parslow, Rogerson, Tait, Burgess, Harris, Harrison, Heslop, McLaughlin, Moké, York, Burrow, Kempster, Parkin, Wright.

Referee: Mr Aaron Jackson. Liverpool

Talk about the game here

Links to York City websites here

Find Pubs around Kidderminster here