North Shields are set to face Scottish side Musselburgh Athletic as tomorrow’s visitors make the short trip across the border.
After Tuesday’s home friendly defeat at the hands of Blyth Spartans, courtesy of two goals from Dale Pearson and a solo effort from Scott Fenwick, the Robins will welcome the East of Scotland Premier Division side to the Daren Persson Stadium.
Nicknamed ‘the Burgh’, our opponents tomorrow will be riding on a high after a successful league campaign which saw them finish third, handing them a qualification place to the Premier Division that they find themselves in now.
In their last pre season match, the Burgh gave their supporters a thrilling match as they came away from their game with The Spartans (no, not those Spartans!) with a 4-4 draw, with the goals coming from Darren Downie, Conor Thomson and John McManus.
Previous to that, in their first pre season game against AFC Killingworth, the Burgh came out convincing winners against the Northern Alliance side, with Downie finding himself once again on the scoresheet alongside Nathan Evans.
Speaking ahead of this game, Robins manager Marc Nash couldn’t hide his excitement at facing up against a familiar face.
“I’m looking forward to the game and it is always competitive against teams from over the border,” says Nash.
“I know the manager well as he is a Wallsend lad, so I know how excited he is to come home for the weekend with his team.”
And after one win and one loss so far this pre season campaign, Nash says he wants to use those games as something to build on.
“We are looking to build on the two previous games but we have some unavailability and a few little niggles creeping in.”
“However, the lads who turn out will get their opportunity to increase their sharpness as the regular season gets closer.”
