Off to: Matlock

It has been 13 years since Mossley last visited Matlock's Causeway Lane ground and it's fair to say that with relegations and promotions for both sides, a lot has happened since then. Not least the fact that Matlock no longer play at Causeway Lane but at the Geoquip Stadium; The Gladiators becoming one of the latest clubs to have succumbed to the lure of renaming their ground in exchange for a thirty pieces of silver from a sponsor.

Still, the Geoquip Stadium is not too bad considering some of the new names grounds have been christened with in the past but I've always wondered why, when they're nicknamed The Gladiators, they never called their home The Colosseum. Whilst we're on the subject of Roman names, I believe there's no truth in the rumours currently flying about that Mossley are changing Seel Park to Circus Maximus to reflect on our home form this season.

No matter what the name of the ground is though, Mossley have a pretty decent record when it comes to playing Matlock in Derbyshire. Out of the 21 previous league games played there both teams have won eight times with Mossley returning home victorious after their last two visits.

Unfortunately the recent history between the two sides is slightly more concerning for the Lilywhite's with Town having already picked up an easy three points off Mossley back in September with a comfortable 3 - 0 win.

At the moment Matlock currently lie fourteen places above us in sixth position, having amassed more than twice as many points from the same number of games too. But there are two reasons why there's hope for Mossley this weekend; the first is that they're performing better (albeit ever so slightly) away from home this season and, secondly, so are Matlock (again, albeit ever so slightly).

Since beating Ossett on the first Tuesday in October The Gladiators have only picked up one win at home in all competitions. However they do enter this game on the back of two impressive away performances at Kendal and North Ferriby where they won 5 - 1 and 2 - 0 respectively.

That first Tuesday in October is also significant for Mossley as it was the date of their last victory in the league. In the two months that have passed since that win against Whitby, Mossley have managed to accrue three points out of a possible eighteen, although two-thirds of those points were picked up 'on the road'.

Prediction: There's no question that the last seven days haven't been good for Mossley. With no game over the past week not only did Mossley lose ground on the teams directly above them, victories for Radcliffe and Grantham saw the Lilywhites pulled further into the relegation quicksand. All of which increases the pressure on Mossley to finally start stringing a series of positive results together.

And (call me crazy) but I think they'll extend their unbeaten streak in the league to two, adding to the point picked up at Hednesford with another at the Geoquip Stadium. In fact I have a funny feeling in my stomach that we'll pick up the full three points on offer. On the other hand, it could just be wind.