FC Isle of Man face mammoth task in historic Bury clash

Tough contest awaits Ravens on first ever trip to Gigg Lane

FC Isle of Man head to the historic Gigg Lane stadium tonight (26 September) as they face NWCFL Premier Division title-hopefuls Bury at 8pm this evening.

The Ravens are without a win in their last six outings and sit 13th in the table - they're coming up against a Bury side which is just one point off the top of the league.

What's more, FC Isle of Man's hosts this evening have a new manager at the helm, Dave McNabb, who takes charge of his first match for Bury later.

Despite their shaky form continuing at the weekend, Ravens' boss Paul Jones has full faith in his squad and believes results will improve if they continue to work hard:

The Island side's last game away at AFC Liverpool last Saturday (23 September) was abandoned in the second half with the score at 4-4 due to a serious injury to an AFC Liverpool player.

It's not yet been decided if that scoreline will stand - should it do so it would mean FC Isle of Man will have now made it to six matches without victory, with the last win coming at Longridge Town on 26 August.

Last season saw the Ravens get outclassed on their travels to Bury - known last season as Bury AFC - as the Manx outfit suffered a comprehensive 4-0 defeat on 13 September, 2022.

However, that changed several months on towards the end of the 2022/23 campaign as FC Isle of Man got their revenge at The Bowl on 15 April this year with a hard-fought 3-2 victory with their visitors at the time still fighting for promotion which they wouldn't go on to claim.

The big change for the home side this evening is in the dugout as Bury manager, Dave McNabb, takes charge of his first 'Shakers' contest having been announced as the new boss yesterday (25 September).

McNabb joins after resigning from his previous post at Northern Premier League side Bootle and replaces Andy Welsh who parted ways with Bury on 17 September.

Despite some significant transition off the pitch, Bury - as they did in the 2022/23 season - have emerged early on as one of the strong contenders to challenge for promotion this campaign.

There current points haul of 27 points from 14 games sees them third in the league standings just one point off current leaders Wythenshawe FC having played one match more than the league leaders so far.

Bury vs FC Isle of Man takes place tonight at Gigg Lane, kicking-off at 8pm.

FC Isle of Man team news

After a quick turnaround from Saturday's abandoned match on Merseyside, there are three changes Paul Jones makes for the Ravens long-anticipated trip to Gigg Lane.

Charlie Higgins - after bagging a hat-trick for his local Island club, Ramsey, at the weekend - is brought back into the squad for the first time since the Ravens defeat at Pilkington on 6 September.

Also included this time around are defender Callum Sherry and - for the first time since mid-August - Kyle Watson with Tom Creer, Joe Walters and Sam Gelling making way this evening.

FC Isle of Man squad vs Bury

Ben Wilkinson (GK), Sam Baines, Ryan Burns, Jacob Crook, Sean Doyle, Tiernan Garvey, Charlie Higgins, Frank Jones, Alex Maitland, Jack McVey, Dean Pinnington, Callum Sherry, Eoighain Sherrard, Kyle Watson, Michael Williams, Ste Whitley