United host Salisbury City at the R Costings Abbey Stadium this evening hoping to climb further towards mid-table safety.

Despite losing their FA Trophy semi-final first leg at home to Barrow on Saturday, Tommy Widdrington's men will be tough opponents. The Whites claimed three points from their last away game at promotion chasing York, and have lost just once in the past six league games.

The Wiltshire club have endured an eventful season, with off-field issues often overshadowing some decent performances on the hallowed turf. The campaign started with a new manager in place when former boss Nick Holmes 'moved upstairs' to become Director of Football at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, with assistant boss Widdrington (below) taking charge of first team affairs.

City have also had to contend with their fair share of financial upheaval. The Club went into administration last September with mounting debts, including a £200,000 tax bill, and suffered the regulation ten-point deduction. A transfer embargo was also put in place further restricting them. Thankfully, though, a local consortium became the Club's new owners later that month and vowed to them to a brighter financial future.

In late February and, following five months of restructure, the courts approved a Company Voluntary Agreement to clear the outstanding debts, with the transfer embargo having been lifted some weeks previous. Despite the good news, club officials admit there is still work to be done to preserve the Whites' long-term future, but remain confident they are moving in the right direction.

The Club was founded as Salisbury FC in 1947, adding the "City" to their name in 1992. It is somewhat ironic, then, that they don't actually play their home games in the City of Salisbury itself, having moved to the aforementioned Raymond McEnhill Stadium, in nearby Sarum, in 1997. Spending most of their life in the lower reaches of the Southern League, they almost went out of business in 2002, but were saved by a local consortium who disposed of long-serving manager Geoff Butler and placed former Southampton midfielder Holmes in charge.

In 2003/2004 City gained promotion, via the play-offs, from the Dr Martens Eastern Division, and were elevated into the Isthmian Premier League which ended a 36-year association with the Southern League. 2004/05 produced mixed fortunes and, despite the arrival of former Southampton defender Widdrington, who joined from Port Vale as Holmes' coach. 2005/06 proved wholly successful as the Whites romped to the Championship, meaning a first ever tilt at Conference South life. The season was also noteworthy for an FA Trophy run to the quarter-finals before being defeated by Exeter City. They took the Conference South by storm in 06/07 and, although our near neighbours Histon pipped them to the title, a Matt Tubbs goal saw off Braintree in the Play-off Final to and City took their place in the Blue Square Premier. They also enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup, with a 3-0 win at Fleetwood Town setting up a televised Second Round tie with Nottingham Forest. City did not disappoint the BBC as they held the League One side to a 1-1 draw, although they lost the replay 2-0.

Upon promotion the Club decided to go professional, with Tubbs being the first to sign a full-time deal. The move allowed Holmes to lure higher quality reinforcements in preparation for their debut at the top of the Non-League pyramid, and take the Club into a new era. They started the season in fine fashion and shot up to sixth in the table, however, they were unable to maintain this form, and seven pre-Christmas losses put pay to any hopes of a sustained promotion challenge. Despite beginning the second half of the season with a 17-game unbeaten run, they fell away again towards the end, and a series of losses, including a 2-0 home defeat to United, saw them conclude in twelfth spot.

Last season was a very different story and City were one of a number of clubs at Blue Square Premier level to make severe cut backs, citing the global credit crunch as their reasoning. Players were sold and the future looked grim but, just as the spectre of relegation was beginning to loom large, majority shareholder Peter Yeldon returned to the Club, bringing with him increased financial stability and allowing Holmes to make a handful of quality loan signings, including Torquay pair Chris Todd and Michael Brough. This has led to an up turn in form, and Salisbury finished comfortably clear of the bottom four. A mid-table berth will be the aim again this year, and one which under the circumstances all will be delighted with.

United and City have met just six times, with the first encounter being in October 2007 when a 1-1 league draw was played out at the Abbey. United romped to a 4-0 home win last season, whilst our two league games in Wiltshire have both ended in victory for United. Salisbury recorded their first win over the U's last month when they grabbed a 2-1 FA Trophy replay win at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium.

The Squad

Widdrington did not waste any time once the earlier mentioned transfer embargo had been lifted, and several new squad additions were secured prior the closure of the transfer window. Between the sticks could be former Weymouth man James Bittner, who replaced Ryan Clarke after his departure to Northwich last year, whilst Ryan Price, signed on deadline day, could also come into the reckoning. Former Gillingham man Sean Clohessy will be at right back, and new signing Ronnie Bull, a Conference veteran with the likes of Ebbsfleet, Crawley, and latterly Grays, may slot in at left back. Bizarrely, Salisbury seem to have converted ex-United striker Danny Webb (below) into a centre-half, and he could line up alongside James Turley. New central defensive additions Chris Giles, who has arrived from Crawley and, Southampton loanee Aaron Martin, will also be in the squad, as will utility man Ben Adelsbury. Brentford man Chris Bush is yet another new recruit, having been signed on work experience terms.

Widdrington favours a 4-3-3 formation, with the tousle-haired Rob Sinclair, veteran Club Captain Darrell Clarke, and nine-goal Chris Flood filling the three central midfield berths in recent matches. Nevertheless, there could be problems for City this evening, with Sinclair suffering from a niggling hamstring injury that means he faces a late fitness test. Meanwhile, Clarke was red-carded in last Saturday's FA Trophy loss to Barrow so, if any subsequent appeal fails, he could miss out against United. Waiting in the sidelines, therefore, will be ex-Bognor Regis man Pat Cox and youngster Stuart Anderson.

Up front, the goalscoring burden rests mainly on the capable shoulders of Matt Tubbs, a prolific figure during Salisbury's rise up the pyramid. The 25-year old is back at City after a loan spell at Bournemouth towards the end of last season and has bagged twenty four goals during the current campaign. Tubbs will probably be joined in attack by Jake Reid, who recently joined the Whites after being released by Weymouth following just a handful of career appearances. Unfortunately, there is precious little other experience amongst the strikers, with youthful trio Bradley Gray, Toby Osman and Aldershot loanee Reece Connolly vying to fill the other slots.

This Season

Without their ten-point penalty Salisbury would be eleventh in the table, whilst also losing four points in the Chester saga. Their resilience is borne out by recent results, having suffered only two league defeats in the calendar year to date. This being a 4-2 reverse away to Mansfield and shock 5-0 loss at fast improving Altrincham. These surprise scorelines aside, though, form has been good. A point was taken at leaders Oxford in late December, just as results and their points deduction threatened to plunge them into a relegation battle and, since then, some impressive wins have been pocketed. These include a 3-0 triumph over Histon, the 1-0 victory against stubborn Tamworth, as well as success in their home game with now defunct Chester (1-0) and, eye-catchingly, the 2-1 win away at York thanks to goals from Captain Clarke and on-loan Reece Connolly. The latter victory left them in fifteenth place, however, they have now dropped to sixteenth, two places behind United.

Overall, City's home form is satisfactory, with six wins and five draws weighed against five defeats, but it is the away record that Martin Ling and his men will need to be mindful of. Eight victories on the road means the Whites travel better than most sides in the division, with notable wins being garnered from trips to Rushden, Hayes & Yeading, Ebbsfleet, Wrexham, Eastbourne, Kettering, Grays and of course York. It is strange how statistics can be read, though, and with City not managing an away draw all season, they have in fact returned home with a hefty nine defeats.

A disappointing early exit to Gateshead in the FA Cup has easily been counter-balanced with their run to the FA Trophy semi-finals. To progress to this stage City have twice seen off lower league opposition in the form of Weymouth, who they beat 1-0 in the first round, and Ryman League outfit Maidstone United, who were brushed aside 2-0 at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium. United, as we know drew 0-0 at home with the Whites, but one of our poorest displays of the season in the replay saw Widdrington's men cruise to a 2-1 win despite being down to ten men. Tamworth were seen off in the quarter-final, but City now have work to do following last Saturday's semi-final 1st leg home loss to Barrow.


Doug Shulman, with thanks to Matt Gooding