Wealdstone manager Dean Brennan says it’s a free hit for his side as they travel away to National League big boys Notts County looking to build on their strong start to the season.
The Stones make the trip to Meadow Lane on Friday evening (7.45pm kick-off) on the back of a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sutton United in front of the BT Sport cameras at the weekend.
They sit fifth in the league table after 10 matches heading into the clash and Brennan said: “We’re looking forward to the game, obviously a fantastic stadium, and a huge football club, probably the biggest club within the division or at least one of them on a Friday evening which is not ideal but will be something new for a lot of the lads.
“We’ll just enjoy the game. It’s a free game for us – they’re one of the favourites to win the division so there is no expectation on us and we’ll go up there to play the way we play. We will try to nullify them as well, and we’ve got some big games coming up, so we’ll see how we get on.”
The match was switched to Friday – due to Championship outfit Nottingham Forest being at home on Sunday – due to policing reasons.
“The police made the football club move it, we understand that, and it’s going to be exciting to play on a Friday evening as I haven’t done that in quite a while personally,” added Brennan.
“It’s a challenge for our lads as they have work and then have to go up there and play, so it’s tough.
“They’re a good side, I know they’ve had some Covid issues and had to pull out of the FA Cup, but they’ve showed a lot of character since.”
Wealdstone are expected to be without attacker Moses Emmanuel who came off after just 13 minutes against Sutton while Alex Dyer, Connor Stevens and Dan Wishart also remain sidelined.
“Moses will be out, he’s having a scan, so we’ll see what comes from those results but from the looks of that kind of injury I can see him being out longer rather than shorter-term,” Brennan added.
“Conor Stevens, obviously. Alex Dyer has an Achilles problem, but we’re hoping to have him back sooner rather than later, but can’t see him being back for this weekend so he’s a miss as he’s an experienced player.
“Dan Wishart has got an issue with his hamstring, we’re starting to pick up injuries now, and we could do without them to be honest.”
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