Tamworth are back to home comforts this weekend as they take on Wealdstone at the H.D. Ricketts Community Stadium, one of the two lunchtime kickoffs in the division this weekend.

The Lambs come into the game off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Southend United this week. Nathan Tshikuna got on the scoresheet for Lambs, but the hosts secured victory late on with a strike from Sam Austin.

They return back to Staffordshire this weekend to host Wealdstone.

The opposition

Wealdstone were founded in 1899 and spent over 30 years in the Athenian League in the early part of the 20th century before beginning to rise up the leagues.
They spent time in both the Southern and Isthmian Premier Divisions in the early 2000’s, winning promotion from the Isthmian Premier in 2013/14. They went up as champions, winning the league by 11 points.

Five seasons followed in the National League South where the Stones were consistently competitive in the top half of the table. After missing out on promotion via the playoffs in 2018/19 when they lost to Bath City, they were promoted to the National League as Champions in 2019/20 on a Points-Per-Game basis.

They have remained in the fifth tier as a part-time side since then, with regular finishes in the bottom half of the table.

Who’s in the dugout?

Gary Waddock is in charge of The Stones after joining them in February, following his departure as Assistant Head Coach at Walsall.

He led his side to a 15th place finish in the league as well as reaching the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium. The Stones drew 0-0 with Southend United after extra time, but lost out the Shrimpers via a penalty shootout.

Ones to watch

Olufela Olomola is currently the top goalscorer for the Stones, scoring two goals so far this season.

Jayden Harris has got two assists under his belt with eight games played so far.

The season so far

19 | Wealdstone | P8 W2 D2 L4 | GF 10 | GA 13 | GD -3 | PTS 8
22 | Tamworth | P8 W1 D2 L5 | GF 14 | GA 22 | GD -8 | PTS 5
Tuesday 15th Sep: Wealdstone 0-1 FC Halifax Town
Saturday 12th Sep: Boston United 1-3 Wealdstone
Saturday 5th Sep: Wealdstone 1-4 Kidderminster Harriers
Monday 31st Aug: Sutton United 0-2 Wealdstone
Friday 28th Aug: Wealdstone 1-1 Carlisle United

Tuesday 15th Sep: Southend United 3-1 Tamworth
Saturday 12th Sep: Harrogate Town 3-1 Tamworth
Saturday 5th Sep: Tamworth 2-2 Boston United
Monday 31st Aug: Yeovil Town 3-2 Tamworth
Friday 28th Aug: Tamworth 3-2 Worthing

Peaks Speaks - Wealdstone

“I’ve said all along, the Lamb has to be where we pick most of our points up. That means for me the lads playing at a real tempo, it means the fans backing us and getting behind us because we’re in it together. We’ve said that before and we know how hard it is. With the right players playing to their levels, playing the right systems, we’re capable of beating anyone at the Lamb. If not, we can lose to anyone and we also know that. We beat some good teams last year and there’s no reason why we can’t this year. We’ve had a little blip in form, but we’ve had some good times as well. We’ve got to get out of the rut, and the only way we do that is together."

Elsewhere this weekend

AFC Fylde v Altrincham
Barrow v Aldershot Town
Boreham Wood v Harrogate Town
Eastleigh v Carlisle United
FC Halifax Town v Sutton United
Forest Green Rovers v Boston United
Gateshead v Southend United
Hartlepool United v Worthing (SAT, 12:30)
Hornchurch v Scunthorpe United (SAT, 17:30)
Woking v Kidderminster Harriers
Yeovil Town v Solihull Moors (FRI, 19:45)