Manager Jon Underwood is hoping history will repeat itself when Bracknell Town visit Southern League Premier South leaders Merthyr this Saturday.
The Robins were the last team to win a league match there, beating the Welsh club 3-2 last February.
A month earlier, his former club, Beaconsfield, had won by the same margin at Penydarren Park.
This season, however, Merthyr are unbeaten at home with 10 wins and six draws, while their overall record is an impressive 20-9-2.
Their only losses came at Walton & Hersham and Gloucester City last August. But they have wobbled a little in recent weeks, with home draws against Basingstoke and Plymouth Parkway before a 1-1 stalemate at Wimborne.
Underwood’s hopes of another win on Welsh soil have been boosted as outstanding centre-back Jack Matton and Teddy Howe have both completed their suspensions.
Midfield dynamo George Knight faces a late fitness test on a calf injury he sustained during the warm-up for last Saturday’s game at Swindon Supermarine.
“Squad wise, we are in a pretty good place at the moment,” commented Underwood.
“We are going to have to play really well if we are to get a result on Saturday.
The Robins will head down the M4 to Wales on the back of successive away wins at Wimborne and Swindon Supermarine.
But they have been inconsistent – drawing matches when they have created enough chances to have won – and they now sit ninth in the table, 13 points behind the bottom play-offs spot.
“It’s not going to be easy to get into the top five but we are looking to finish the season well and as high in the table as we can” said Underwood.
The teams in fourth and fifth place – Walton & Hersham and Dorchester – are playing consistently well and not dropping many points; they’re going to be hard to catch.
“Around Christmas time we thought we could make a strong challenge for the play-offs, but our form since Christmas has been very patchy and that has seen us drop away from the play-offs. We have a lot of points to make up.”
The Robins have 11 league games remaining, five of them at Bottom Meadow.
Haydon Vaughan injury not as serious as first thought – but will have an extended spell out
Haydon Vaughan, the player they have on loan from National League club Aldershot, will miss the rest of the season following the injury he suffered during the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup 4-1 win over Reading Under-23s.
He was taken off to hospital with a suspected ACL injury, but scans showed that was not the case.
“It is not quite clear cut what the injury is, but it appears some cartilage or ligament damage” said Underwood earlier this week.
“He is to have a consultation with a specialist. He may need a small operation or just rehab, but it is now more realistic he will be ready to start pre-season training, which is a positive. If it had been an ACL, it would have been out for much longer.”
Bracknell are still in with a chance of finishing the campaign with a trophy as they are through to the semi-finals of the Berks & Bucks Senor Cup. They play League 2 club Milton Keynes Dons at Bottom Meadow on Tuesday, March 11.
