Tuesday night is Berkshire derby night in the Vanarama National League South as Hungerford Town make the trip east to Slough Town.
Hungerford won both league matches between the two sides in 2019/20 but were bottom of the league come the early end of the season while the Rebels sat in the play-off places.
New Crusaders boss Danny Robinson though has completely rebuilt the squad and has the West Berkshire club flying high in the National League with 15 points from their first seven games.
Slough meanwhile are a game behind their visitors having won two, drawn one and lost three so far though co-manager Jon Underwood was pleased with his sides performance at the weekend despite not getting the result.
Writing on the Slough Town website he said: “On Saturday we were pleased with the overall performance at Billericay where we felt we were the better side, creating far more opportunities than our opponents even in the second half when playing with 10 men, but ultimately like the week before we came away with nothing for our efforts.”
Slough Town vs Hungerford Town: How to watch the big Berkshire derby
Mark Nisbet’s return
The big news for Slough Town fans is the return of Mark Nisbet to playing duties. His inclusion in the 16-man squad is due to Jack McKnight dropping out but undoubtedly will be well received by Rebels fans.
The Rebels club captain, Nisbet was diagnosed with an irregular heart rhythm in the summer of 2019 which was initially corrected but recurred within a month. In September Nisbet underwent the first of two ablation surgeries, a much bigger operation which didn’t work the first time, but in October a second attempt was made and the success of it means the defender will be able to resume his playing career.
Speaking to the Maidenhead Advertiser this week, Nisbet said: “Operation wise everything went well,” he said. “Everything was corrected at the beginning of October, so the heart is fine. Now, it’s just about getting back to full fitness.
“I was lucky enough to play a few games for Beaconsfield and have also played for the u23s, so I’ve got four 90 minutes under my belt and I’ve also been training hard to get myself back in the squad as soon as possible. The negative of this second lockdown is that I could have maybe done with one or two more games.”
Team news
The Rebels squad as usual has been revealed on the Slough website and includes in the 16: Jack Turner, Josh Jackman, Louis Lomas, Sam Togwell, Ryan Bird, Mark Nisbet, Lee Togwell, Sean Fraser, Aaron Kuhl, Cameron McGilp, Matthew Lench, Warren Harris, Max Worsfold, Paul Hodges, Dan Roberts, Malachi Linton.
Hungerford Town boss Danny Robinson revealed to Football in Berkshire a couple of snippets of team news ahead of the game: “Matt Partridge is suspended. Other than that full compliment to choose from.”
Robinson also said when asked if he was looking forward to the game: “I’m like a kid at Christmas.”
