This Halloween United will be hoping to cap a nightmare week for Saturday's visitors Kidderminster Harriers.

Kiddy were dumped out of the FA Cup in midweek, going down 3-1 in a replay to Conference North outfit Fleetwood Town. And while there is no shame in losing to the big spending Cod Army, who have experienced campaigners such as Gareth Seddon in their squad, boss Mark Yates was disappointed with defender Lee Baker, who was sent off in the first half.

He told the BBC: "It was the turning point in the game, it was stupidity from Lee Baker. He was favourite to win the ball but went over the top. It was a clear red.

"Fleetwood are a good side, they threw everything at us and we did well until the second goal went in. But then heads dropped and we realised the enormity of the task," he said.

Yates has done a fantastic job turning Kidderminster into promotion challengers on limited resources. For a long time they were one of non-leagues biggest names, achieving promotion to the Alliance Premier League (a forerunner to the Football Conference) in 1983.

Three FA Trophy finals, including a 2-1 replay win over Burton in 1987, followed, and after a series of near misses they clinched the championship in 1993/94, also enjoying a memorable FA Cup run which saw them defeat Preston and illustrious near neighbours Birmingham City.

Unfortunately their success was not built on solid foundations, and they were denied promotion to the league because Aggborough was not up to standard.

It was to be another six years before they finally made it to the league when, under the guidance of ex-Liverpool schemer Jan Molby, they clinched the Conference title in 1999/00. Two seasons of moderate success followed, until Molby was lured to Humberside by Hull City.

After this Harriers went into a familiar pattern of changing manager on a regular basis. With crowds rarely getting above the 2,000 mark, they struggled to compete in League Two, and were relegated along with United in 2004/05.

Stuart Watkiss, the man who took Harriers down, began the 05/06 season in the hotseat, but after a poor start he was fired, with current incumbent Mark Yates taking over. Yates, a former Harriers captain and fans favourite, stabilised the squad, and has slowly started to mould a team in his own image. However, he has yet to mount a sustained promotion challenge, and Kiddy fans will be hoping they can put that right this season.

The highlight of Yates' reign so far has probably been reaching the FA Trophy final in 06/07.

Over 50,000 fans packed into the new Wembley, and saw two James Constable goals give Harriers a commanding lead. However, opponents Stevenage staged a remarkable comeback to win the match 3-2 and take the Trophy back to Hertfordshire.

Last season Kidderminster were in and around the play off pack for much of the campaign, but in the end fell just short, finishing one place and two points outside the top five.

The Squad
After going all out for promotion last season, Yates was forced to make dramatic cut backs to his squad over the summer, with star players such as keeper Adam Barlett, who of course played for United at Wembley last season, skipper Mark Creighton, and experienced striker Justin Richards all departing. While he still has a strong first eleven to call upon, there is a distinct lack of depth in Harriers squad.

Last season's number two goalkeeper, Dean Coleman, is now first choice, and has performed admirably so far this campaign.

Regular right back is Duane Courtney, who has Championship experience from his time at Burnley, while the aforementioned Lee Baker usually fills in on the left. However, his suspension means there will be an immediate debut for loanee Danny Andrew, signed from Peterborough on Friday. In the centre, Gavin Caines has been a solid performer since signing from Cheltenham, and he partners former Wolves trainee Martin Riley.

Kiddy will be without influential midfielder-cum-forward Chris McPhee, who is suspended, but still have several other experienced campaigners in the middle of the park, including John Finnegan, who joined in the summer after a long career in the football league with Lincoln and Cheltenham. Alongside him, Dean Bennett is in his second spell at Kidderminster after rejoining from Wrexham a couple of summers ago.

On the flanks, Brian Smikle and former United loanee Darryl Knights provide goal threat in abundance, with Smikle having already netted six times this season.

But scoring goals has been a bit of a problem for Harriers, with last years top scorer Matthew Barnes-Homer yet to really fire on all cylinders this term. Aside from Barnes-Homer, there is little experience in the Kiddy attack, with Aaron Farrell, signed in the summer from Sutton Coldfield, likely to start against United. However, Yates could turn to ex-Salisbury target man Robbie Matthews, who has just completed a three-game ban.

This Season
Its been an inconsistent season for Kiddy thus far. Goals were hard to come by to begin with, with Yates' side netting just once in their opening four games, Barnes-Homer scoring to see off new boys Hayes and Yeading on the opening day.

The next three games yielded 1-0 defeats to Kettering and Salisbury, and a 0-0 draw with Ebbsfleet, but after that Kiddy began to find their feet, and comfortable wins over Grays (3-1) and Altrincham (3-0) saw them begin to climb the table.

A 3-1 win over Mansfield, and a 1-0 success at AFC Wimbledon are also notable victories achieved by Kiddy, although they slipped up against Tamworth (1-2) and Eastbourne (0-2).

Their last league game saw them beat Crawley 1-0, courtesy of a late strike from Gavin Caines. This was enough to lift them to seventh, three points and three places above United.

Last time
Kiddy have been something of a bogey team for United in the past, but we put to bed that hoodoo last season with a 2-1 win.

Two goals from Lee McEvilly were the difference between the sides. Big Evil was on hand to tap into the empty net in the first half, after Mark Beesley's shot had been parried by Adam Bartlett.

He doubled his tally in the second period, heading in at the far post after a fantastic run and cross from Felino Jardim.

Harriers were out of sorts for much of the game, but did pull a goal back in injury time, with Justin Richards turning the ball in from six yards following a corner.

Matthew Gooding