by Peter Scherer
After ending their four-game unbeaten run at Sutton Coldfield last Saturday, Mickleover will hoping to return to winning ways, as Corby Town visit the Don Amott Arena on Saturday.
Back in October we were 1-0 victor at Corby, with Josiah Dyer scoring the winner, his first goal for the club.
Apart from Jake Bennett, everyone else came through last weekends game unscathed, so manager Gareth Holmes will hopefully have a full squad to chose from.
Currently ninth in the table, with Mickleover 11th, Corby have had four wins from their last 10 games, but all away from home, including a 2-1 win over Belper Town two weeks ago.
Leon Mettam took over as manager in December following Gary Setchell’s resignation. He was previously player manager at Wisbech Town a couple of years ago.
Northampton Town loanee Theo Avery has been in goal for the last two games. He was previously at Mansfield Town and Nottingham Forest.
Former Nottingham Forest youngster Nykah Liburd-Hines has also played in goal. After spells at Hereford, Chippenham, Lincoln Utd, Carlton, Rugby Town, Aylestone Park and Newark & Sherwood, he joined Stamford at the start of this season. He has also been loaned back to Carlton and Harrowby Utd’
Kalern Thomas is a right back and one of the longest serving players, signed from Ilkeston in July 2023, having previously been on loan. He started out at Quorn, and has played for Loughborough Dynamo, Boston Utd, Solihull Moors, Halesowen, Kettering, Kings Lynn and Coalville too.
Jack Keeble is a centre back who started out at Grimsby Town. He joined St.Neots following his release, before moving on to Stamford and Wisbech. He came to our visitors in July 2023 from Bedford.
Martin Tsvetkov is another right back or wide midfielder on loan from Harborough Town and defender Theo Braham has played for Wisbech and Histon too.
Full back Freddie Allen arrived from Stamford in November. He was loaned to Bourne to, having started his career at Doncaster Rovers.
On loan from Boston Utd, Sam Waburton made his debut on New Years Day. A former Northampton Town junior, he played for Rugby Town and Nuneaton before first joining Corby in 2017 from Kings Lynn. He’s also played for Wellingborough, Rushden & Diamond, Grantham, Spalding and Quorn too.
Alfie Wren left our visitors to join Wellingborough in the close season, but returned and debuted on New Years Day. Another midfielder, he’s played for Cambridge City, Biggleswade and Spalding too.
Former Peterborough Utd midfielder Ben Challinor joined Barwell on his release. He then spent six months at Peterborough Sports, before joining our visitors pre-season.
Jordan Crawford currently captains the side. A midfielder, signed from Harborough Town in October. He left Corby in 2021 to join Kettering and has since played for Boston Utd, Peterborough Sports and Brackley too.
Already known to Mickleover fans is midfielder James Matthews, as he started this season as a Sports player. A former Mansfield Town youngster, he’s also played for Carlton, Frickley, AFC Mansfield, Sherwood Colliery and Hallam too and joined our visitors three weeks ago. He is also a triathlete and International Ironman competitor.
Attacking midfielder Brad Gothard is a recent signing, having arrived from St.Neots a couple of weeks ago. He’s recently played for Bourne Town and Welwyn Garden City too.
Midfielder Abdul Koroma has recently returned to our visitors after a spell out of the game. He was previously at Shepshed, Spalding and Rushden & Diamonds.
Leon Johnson is a winger who started this season at Kettering Town and Desborough, before joining our visitors. Most of his career has been spent in the north west, with Altrincham, Chorley, Ashton Utd and Warrington.
Striker Connor Tomlinson was another pre-season signing. His career started with Luton Town and moved to Bedford after a loan spell with Hemel. His next stops were Bedford and Nuneaton, before a four- month loan at Corby in September 1993, which then became permanent. After a return trip to Bedford, he joined Spalding and latterly Berkhamsted.
Fran Obiagwu is a striker currently on loan from Northampton Town, where he has made two League One appearances.
Striker Matteo Perkins is another recent arrival. He was at Shepshed Dynamo last season and has also played for Eynesbury Rovers, St Neots Town, Wisbech Town, Yaxley, and Newark Town.
Dennis Halliday is another recent arrival from Welwyn. A striker, he was previously Wolverhampton Casuals, Market Drayton and Welsh League Newtown.
Defenders Jack Noble, Ben Smith, Ryan Martindalle and midfielder Harison Jones have also been in squad over the last 10 matches, which saw eight changes in the starting line-up for their visit to Rushden three weeks ago.
Kick off is 3pm as usual.