Brightlingsea Regent host Redbridge at North Road, with the R’s looking to claim their first win of the new year. Following impressive performances against high flyers Felixstowe & Walton United, and Waltham Abbey, Regent have only been able to hold onto 1 point out of the 6 available, coming against the latter of the two sides last week.

Ryan Salter, manager of Brightlingsea, says that this was ‘a very important point’, and points to a thinned out squad due to injury and illness, being the reason for slightly hampered results.

However he looks forward to today's game against Redbridge. He already has a positive note with the squad ‘looking better with numbers’, and he can also welcome new signing Ellis Ashworth into the team.

Redbridge are currently sat in 8th place, 8 points above Brightlingsea, sat in 12th, and are also chasing playoffs, so this is a hugely important game for both sides to win if they want to keep playoff hopes alive for this season.

The two key men that Salter's defence will have to worry about are Malachi Napa and Solomon Ogunwomoju. With Napa getting himself a hat trick in Redbridge’s 4-3 victory over Tilbury last weekend, he is currently tied as the top scorer, with 19 league goals to his name, and Ogunwomoju providing 11 goals himself, showing the league that the two are one of the best goal-scoring pairs out there.

However, if they can manage to keep these two quiet, then Brightlingsea may have an easier time of things in the game, as Redbridge's next highest scorer sits in 69th in the league for goals. Brightlingsea in the other hand have 5 players contributing to scoring goals who sit between their two places, showing that there are many creative outlets at the club.

As what seems to be a repeating theme around Brightlingsea Regent recently, it looks set to be a brilliant game of football, showcasing a display of goalscoring talent against a team hungry for a win using their understanding of eachother and working as a team.

So back your Regent and be the special 12th man to carry your team over the line, and in the words of Club Chairman Terry Doherty, “I hope that you enjoy the game this afternoon and that we keep battling and singing until the 95th minute!”

Up the R’s!