Cambridge United visit Hayes & Yeading for the first time on Saturday (3pm), aiming for the first back-to-back wins since the first weeks of the season.
The 4-0 win at home to Ebbsfleet last weekend was the first in five games and the U's are now in eighth place, having taken 24 points from the first 16 games, while Hayes & Yeading's form, with just one win so far, sees them second-from-bottom in 23rd, with eight points from their 15 games.
The bookies rate the U's odds-on to win at 4/5 with our online betting partners bet365, while Hayes & Yeading are 3/1 and the draw is 5/2. Click here for all the match odds.
Team News
After weeks without any major injury worries, Martin Ling could be without two recognised wingers for the match.
As reported here yesterday, Andy Parkinson is "almost certainly" ruled out after turning his ankle in training yesterday, while Robbie Willmott has been unable to train all week with a viral infection. Willmott will be assessed today, with young midfielders Sam Ives and Jordan Patrick hoping to be involved if he is unable to play.
"Robbie hasn't trained all week and he's 50/50 or maybe 60/40 to make the game, but we won't really know how he is until Friday."
If neither player is fit, the manager confirmed he will change the personnel rather than his preferred 4-4-2 formation: "I'll change a body rather than change the system; we have people who can play wide and it will be an opportunity for someone else if Parky and Robbie don't make it."
Sure to start on the left wing is Courtney Pitt, who scored one goal and set up two more in Saturday's win, and the U's boss is pleased with his form since returning to the side: "As a manager you have to find the 'on-off' switch in a player, and the way I'm doing things with Courtney is obviously working at the moment so I need to keep that 'on'.
"Lots of wingers are like that," he added. "I played as a winger myself and sometimes you have to wait for service, but hopefully I can keep finding that 'on' switch."
Ling, who confirmed last week that he was working 'on the edge' of his playing budget, dismissed rumours linking him with Colchester United's Matthew Lockwood. The left-back played under Ling at Leyton Orient and has been made available for loan, but Ling is very happy with the options in his squad.
"If I thought we had a problem at left-back then Matt would be a possible," said Ling. "I like him as a player but Anthony Tonkin is as good as there is in this league, and we've got young (Darryl) Coakley behind him so it's a 'no' unless we had an injury problem.
"The budget is full and the new Greene King sponsorship doesn't affect my budget, so until we get injuries in areas we can't cover then there won't be any loans."
The Other Side
Having recorded the first 'double' of the season last weekend against Ebbsfleet, United will look to put recent patchy form behind them with another win to close the gap on the clubs in the play-off places.
While United were putting four goals past Ebbsfleet, Hayes & Yeading were losing 4-0 at Stevenage Borough and they are only one place off the bottom of the table due to Chester's points deduction, but Martin Ling has warned his players to avoid a repeat of the defeat at lowly Grays two weeks ago.
"They're in the bottom four but we can't go there like we did to Grays," he said. "I remember talking before the Grays game, when we were going to a team in the bottom four and expecting to win; our performance wasn't good enough.
"I expect that, if we play to our potential, we'll win the game, but if we don't then any team in this league can beat us or any other team. Hayes & Yeading are, statistically, the worst team in the league and we've got to make sure that continues on Saturday."
Ling added, "Every team has its strengths and weaknesses and we've watched them and we know about them, as we do with every team, but we need to look at ourselves first and make sure we play well enough to damage their weaknesses."
Hayes & Yeading will have defender Danny Allen-Page and striker Scott Fitzgerald available again after suspension, but midfielder Ram Marwa is serving a three-match ban and midfielder Justin Cochrane is a doubt with a knee injury.
"They've only won one game and they haven't won since August but when you're in that situation - and I've been in a similar situation at Orient after we got promoted - you go looking for a spark and they'll try to do that on Saturday," Ling concluded.
"They'll see us as a big scalp and we've got to be at our best and make sure we do things right."
More information
You can read more about Hayes & Yeading in Matt Gooding's 'The Other Side' preview, directions and away travel details are here, and if you fancy a bet on our match or any other event this weekend visit our official betting partners bet365 - the place where your online betting makes money for the U's.
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