FC Isle of Man out to break duck against Squires Gate

Ravens looking for response after defeat last week

FC Isle of Man will be out to break their duck against Squires Gate when the Ravens host their opponents in the NWCFL Premier Division tomorrow night (2 December).

The Manx side are looking to bounce back after a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Cheadle Town at The Bowl last weekend (25 November).

FC Isle of Man sit ninth in the table currently with Squires Gate down in 22nd - however, the Island outfit have lost all three meetings with the Blackpool-based team so far.

Ravens boss Paul Jones says his squad must have the ability to adapt if they're to claim a positive result on Saturday:

FC Isle of Man's recent form of five wins in their last eight means they go into the latest round of fixtures seven points outside the promotion play-off spots at this halfway stage of the campaign.

In the reverse fixture between themselves and Squires Gate this season back in September, FC Isle of Man spurned a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at The Brian Addison Stadium. 

The meetings between the two sides in the 2022/23 season saw Squires Gate emerge convincing 4-1 winners at The Bowl in January this year before a 3-2 victory on home soil a few weeks later on 8 February.

When it comes to results as a whole it's been a challenging season so far for Squires Gate - their current tally of 17 points means they're only five points clear of bottom-of-the-table Skelmersdale United.

They've managed one victory in their last eight games in all competitions - a 3-2 home win over Skelmersdale United on 28 October.

FC Isle of Man vs Squires Gate takes place at The Bowl this Saturday, 2 December, kicking-off at the earlier time of 5pm.

Manx Radio will be providing full live match commentary on our DAB and AM1368 channels.

FC Isle of Man team news

Largely due to player availability this weekend, Paul Jones makes four changes from the side which suffered the narrow defeat at the hands of Cheadle Town last week.

In the defensive areas whilst Ryan Burns drops out this week, Phil Kelly is called up and there's also a return for Eoghain Sherrard.

There's also a return to the fold for midfielder Danny Gerrard who replaces Joe Quayle, whilst in the attacking areas Sean Doyle and Tom Creer are unavailable - Dean Leece therefore is added to the firepower up top.

FC Isle of Man squad vs Squires Gate

Ben Wilkinson (GK), Jamie Corlett, Jacob Crook, Tiernan Garvey, Danny Gerrard, Frank Jones, Phil Kelly, Dean Leece, Alex Maitland, Dean Pinnington, Eoghain Sherrard, Callum Sherry, Dan Simpson, Kyle Watson, Michael Williams, Ste Whitley