Preview | Banbury United (A) | National League North | 2023/24

Blyth Spartans return to National League North action on Saturday as they face an away trip to the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium to take on Banbury United.

The Spartans suffered an Emirates FA Cup exit during the week as they were beaten 5-0 against Worksop Town at Sandy Lane in the third qualifying round on Tuesday night.

Ticket Information

Tickets can only be purchased online for away fans, click here to pre-book yours. All ticket information is as follows:

• Adults - £15
• Concessions (over 65) - £11
• Students - £8
• Under 18s - £5
• Under-10s - £2

Team News

Michael Liddle suffered a hamstring injury inside the opening five minutes away to Worksop Town on Tuesday evening so therefore will be out of action for Saturday's trip to Banbury and the foreseeable.

There are no updates on the status of Cedric Main and JJ Hooper, while Lewis Knight is still a couple of weeks away from returning.

What We're Saying

Following the defeat against Worksop Town in the Emirates FA Cup, Graham Fenton said: "It's a humbling experience isn't it.

"They looked like an experienced, physical team who understand how to play football at this level and we played like a young, inexperienced academy team at times today and that was the difference.

"We learned lots of lessons about us as individuals and as a team, so we have to take those lessons forward into Saturday which will be another tough away game."

Opposition

The Puritans sit one place below Spartans in the National League North table in twelfth position. They are unbeaten in their last three league games, winning twice and drawing once and they have not played a home match since September 9, 2023.

Banbury were knocked out of the FA Cup in the second qualifying round as they lost 2-1 away to Nantwich Town.

What They're Saying

Looking ahead to the game, manager Mark Jones said: "Ahead of this fixture, we have used the extra time available to us from not progressing in the FA Cup, to get in some good training sessions. I feel we are very well prepared.

"Both Banbury and Blyth are battling close together in mid-table. It's a big incentive for both teams to get three points over the other. We've now gone three league matches unbeaten and obviously, we want to continue that trajectory."

"We want to keep up our good home record and are hoping for a good crowd."

Listen to the full interview with Mark Jones here.

Last Time We Met

The teams have only met twice in history, which was last season, due to Banbury being promoted to the National League North for the first time last season.

Both fixtures between the sides have ended in a draw with the first fixture at Croft Park ending in a 1-1 draw and the reverse fixture ending as a goalless draw.

Media Coverage

You can follow all of the action on Saturday afternoon via our social media platforms.