Ravens searching for solid response against Ramsbottom United

Manager says work rate has been good following defeat last week

After a frustrating defeat last time out, FC Isle of Man will be aiming to bounce back when they host Ramsbottom United in the NWCFL Premier Division tomorrow evening (23 March).

The Ravens could climb as many as four places to tenth in the table should they take maximum points this weekend.

The Manx side's manager, Paul Jones says finding consistency remains one of the ongoing battles of this campaign with just under a month of the season remaining.

But going into this latest test, he insists the players have responded well to the 'anger' and 'disappointment' of losing at Cheadle Town six days ago:

Despite last Saturday's setback in Stockport, there was little to no impact on the Island side's standing in the table as they sit 14th and one of five sides on 52 points.

More widely just two points separate 10th to 15th in a congested mid-table region.

There's been an even split of highs and lows over the last six games for FC Isle of Man with three wins and three defeats in that time.

This weekend's hosts might also take encouragement from the fact that they've only failed to score once since the turn of the year so far.

Meanwhile, despite being 11 points behind their latest opposition and down in 18th in the standings, Ramsbottom United took all three points in a 2-1 victory over the Ravens in the first meeting of the two clubs in the reverse fixture in August 2023.

The visitors have not won a league contest since 3 February, however there's been significant disruption to their schedule between now and then with Ramsbottom United seeing no fewer than six of their games postponed and one abandoned.

FC Isle of Man vs Ramsbottom United takes place at The Bowl this Saturday, 23 March, kicking-off at 6pm.

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

FC Isle of Man team news

Paul Jones makes just one change to the side which went down 3-2 at Cheadle Town last weekend.

It sees an alteration in the attacking areas as Dan Hattersley returns to the squad having been unavailable last time out, he replaces young striker Tom Creer.

FC Isle of Man squad vs Ramsbottom United

Adam Killey (GK), Connor Birch, Jacob Crook, Sean Doyle, Ryan Gartland, Tiernan Garvey, Danny Gerrard, Dan Hattersley, Charlie Higgins, Frank Jones, Phil Kelly, Alex Maitland, Jack McVey, Eoghain Sherrard, Kyle Watson, Ste Whitley