Bromley vs Walsall preview

The league leaders are in town tonight.

How long Walsall will remain in top spot is another question.

The Saddlers have been in pole position for 18 games but currently find themselves in a bit of funk. From their last possible 33 points they have only collected 10, which means they arrive at Hayes Lane only 7 points clear in the automatic promotion hunt.

That is still a sizeable gap, but two months ago it seemed unthinkable that they could be caught.

In their slipstream are Bradford City (2^nd) and Doncaster Rovers (3^rd), who may well have designs on a League Two title race of their own.

Of course, in the last two weeks, both Bradford and Doncaster have visited Hayes Lane and served up a football clinic, but beating Bromley is so difficult that only one of those sides left with all three points.

Walsall should expect a difficult night at the Lane, and with the Sky Sports cameras in tow, who would bet against Bromley serving up a ‘getting Bromleyed’ classic?

Many are pointing to loanee Nathan Lowe being recalled by Stoke City as the reason for Walsall’s stuttering form. The bad run certainly coincided with his departure, and his 15 goals are proving very hard to replace. However, in Jamille Matt (11) and Taylor Allen (7) they do still have goal threats on the pitch.

Connor Barrett and Taylor Allen are both regular assist providers, so the real question is whether the new additions in the transfer window give them the quality to get over the line.

MK Dons striker Ellis Harrison, Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley, and midfielders Alfie Chang (Birmingham City), Darius Lipsiuc (Stoke City), and Nathan Asiimwe (Charlton Athletic) have all joined on loan. But it was the addition of Levi Amantchi that turned Bromley heads.

Andy Woodman was quite bullish about his reasons for letting Levi move on, and he might say he’s been proved right so far, but will Levi have something in store for Bromley tonight? The rangy striker currently has one goal in his eight substitute appearances, but you know what happens when someone returns to face their old club (particularly when there’s a point to prove).

Where Bromley are concerned, I think you can expect them to be a bit more expansive than in the previous two midweek fixtures.

Their performance at Walsall earlier in the season caught the Saddlers by surprise as Bromley really took the game to them. I think Andy has to take heed and not treat the current league leaders with the same respect he treated Bradford and Doncaster.

Will Walsall have more of the ball? Certainly. Should Bromley believe they can hurt Walsall? Why not?

The Ravens sit three spots and five points outside the play-offs, with a shot, albeit a faint one, of featuring in the postseason. For that to become a realistic opportunity, you sense they have to win tonight.

However, given the injury sustained by Michael Cheek in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Tranmere, it seems they will have to do it without their talisman. Surely this is what Nicke Kabamba was bought in to do? He has to seize the chance to make Bromley less reliant on Cheek.

A few players came back to the squad on Saturday; namely Ashley Charles, Maldini Kacurri and Idris Odutayo. Consequently, I am expecting several changes tonight.

Have a look at what I would do. Do you agree?

Possible Bromley XI

Smith

Grant Elerewe Webster Odutayo

Arthurs Thompson

Mayor Whitely Ilunga

Kabamba

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Please note all match photographs in this article are by Martin Greig - please follow him on Instagram here

All articles are edited by Peter Etherington you can link to him here

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