Why should I watch..?

Winsford can make a case for being one of the most entertaining teams in the North West Counties League’s top-flight.

A 4-0 defeat at AFC Liverpool in midweek halted an impressive run of form that had seen Lee Duckworth’s men collect 10 points in their opening half-dozen games.

They have proved already they can recover from a heavy loss though, and won 2-1 at home to Widnes last month 72 hours after a five-goal thrashing at Runcorn Linnets.

Bootle, tipped by many to be a contender for the Premier Division title this term, will be looking to recover too following a 2-0 defeat at Runcorn Town on Wednesday.

They have fond memories of playing Blues at St Luke’s Barton Stadium though, and are unbeaten there in their past eight visits.

What they’ve said

“We didn’t start well in midweek; AFC Liverpool were clinical, and we found ourselves 3-0 down inside 20 minutes.

“After that we woke up and created more than half-a-dozen really good chance, but we just couldn’t score.

“We can have no complaints about losing though.”

Lee Duckworth, Winsford United player-manager

Numbers game

Winsford have lost five of their past half-dozen meetings – and drawn the other – with Bootle, conceding 17 goals.

Blues have not beaten the Bucks since Harry Noon scored the only goal in a North West Counties League encounter back in October 2013.

Man to keep an eye on

Nathan Cotterell

With three front-runners – Jordan Johnson, Michael Koral and Brandon Moores – all ruled out by injury, the burden of carrying Blues’ attacking threat falls on Cotterell’s shoulders.

He scored his first goal of the campaign in a 1-1 draw with Barnton last weekend, and will be hoping to repeat the trick against promotion-hopefuls Bootle this afternoon.

Winsford team news

Blues will be without attacking duo Jordan Johnson (knee) and Michael Koral (thigh), who are both ruled out by injury.

Brandon Moores (hamstring) will be missing too, although player-manager Lee Duckworth will at least have full-back Damian Skolorzynksi and midfielder Danny Kerr available again after they missed a 4-0 defeat at AFC Liverpool in midweek.

Form (league)

Winsford L D W L W D

Bootle L W D L W D

Most recent meetings

Winsford 0-3 Bootle (NWCFL Premier Division, April 3 2017)

Bootle 5-1 Winsford (NWCFL Premier Division, August 27 2016)

Winsford 0-1 Bootle (NWCFL Premier Division, October 19 2015)

Essential information

When Saturday, September 9

Kick off 3pm

Address St Luke’s Barton Stadium, Kingsway, Winsford CW7 3AE

Admission Adults £6, Concessions (OAP/under 21s) £4, Under 16s £1

Parking Available for free at the ground