Altrincham will contest their fifth consecutive away game this afternoon when they face Dover at The Crabble.
First up let's go with a squad fitness update. For sure, Alty will be without Toby Mullarkey and Sean Williams this afternoon. Toby will be out for over a month after a small fracture was located in his ankle, sustained in the first half at Hartlepool this past Tuesday night.
Willo, meanwhile, will have a scan on his ankle next week. The swelling is not settling down as well as our team would have hoped for by now. Simon Richman's knock is not as bad as first thought, however it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to play a part in today's game.
Hartlepool led at half-time on Tuesday through David Parkhouse but Alty fought back well in the second half, and grabbed a deserved equaliser through Ritchie Sutton on the 85th minute.
Remarkably, the Robins then had a chance to win the game from the spot in added time but Matty Kosylo's penalty was saved brilliantly by Killip, the Pools keeper.
It was always going to feel a little disappointing after that late penalty miss, but full credit has to go to the lads for fighting back in the second half and securing another solid, deserved away point.
Brian Flynn caught up with Phil Parkinson after the game. Looking ahead to today, and our longest distanced trip of the season:
"People keep throwing at me - 'it's fantastic when you first go up, but now it's pretty negative with all this travel that you've got.' I can't wait. I can't wait to go to Dover, I couldn't wait to get here tonight. I'm absolutely delighted with the travel, it's something I'm relishing - new challenges, new places."
Dover ended a five game losing run with a victory over Eastleigh this past Tuesday night, goals coming from Sam Wood, Louis Collins and Adebayo Azeez. Manager, Darren Hare, spoke with Dover's media after the game:
"It's not going to be an easy game. They're a very strong side, very physical and they've got some good players and they're capable of picking up results. They haven't won a game yet but they seem very solid and very hard to break down so we're going to have to be at our best and rise to the occasion again."
You can listen to the full interview here.
Altrincham have moved to cure the injury plague by adding Crewe Alexandra U23 player Joe Robbins to the squad on a youth loan. Joe, who is a central midfielder, vastly impressed Phil Parkinson in a recent Crewe U23 game and he is available this afternoon.
Finally, a quick flashback. The last time Alty played a National League fixture on Halloween we saw Jake Moult produce one of the greatest goals The J Davidson Stadium has ever seen. How we could do with something similar this afternoon.
Here's a link to today's game on Dover's streaming platform. You will need to create an account first by registering on the site, then purchase the fixture.
You can listen to live commentary of today's game on Radio Robins, sponsored by Ashley Mowers Garden Machinery, and the broadcast starts at 2.45pm
The match commentary sponsor is 'The Non-League Lounge.'
The commentary team is Laurence Howarth & Brian Flynn
You can listen to Radio Robins in any of the following ways:
1) By visiting our Match Centre on the club website
2) Download and install the Mixlr app on Android devices from the Google Play Store - start the app and search for 'Radio Robins'.
3) Download and install the Mixlr app on Apple devices from the Apple Store - start the app and search for 'Radio Robins'.
4) https://mixlr.com/radio-robins
5) There is also a temporary Radio Robins WIX website at https://rr5977.wixsite.com/radiorobins
