On Saturday, Grays Athletic host Waltham Abbey looking to build on the fantastic win away at Felixstowe & Walton midweek. That victory was marked by Blues being shorn of various players due to injury, suspension and weddings. Undoubtedly, some of those faces will still be missing on Saturday but it seemed to make little difference to the character and performance on the pitch.

It’s difficult to know what to add about Waltham Abbey, given that we only played the reverse fixture at Cappershotts ten days ago. That game was a hard-fought encounter with only a late Jason Hallett goal dividing the two sides.

Since then, Waltham Abbey have recorded two further wins. Firstly, 1-0 away to Maldon & Tiptree thanks to a first half goal from Luke Deslandes and then a comprehensive 5-0 defeat of out-of-form Basildon United - an opening strike from Kieron Cathline and then four goals in the last half hour from Kymani Thomas, Hassan Nalbant, Nicholas Brownand another from Cathline.

Those victories have kept Waltham Abbey firmly in contention for a playoff place. They currently sit in fourth place with 16 wins from 27 games, an excellent return at this point of the season. Goals have been plentiful but shared around the squad, with eighteen different scorers and Prince Domafriye leading the way with nine, although he has been sidelined since before Christmas. They are also one of the form teams in the division, with five wins from their last six outings.

Grays will need to be at their sharpest against impressive opponents, but Tuesday evening shows that in this division anything is possible. Already this season, we have seen teams play entertaining football who are languishing near the foot of the table and fixtures elsewhere, where the result was anything but the one expected.

So Blues should take great heart.

Given recent inclement weather, there is a precautionary 9am pitch inspection, so look out for announcements on the usual social media channels.

The game is scheduled for a 3pm kick-off at the EMR Stadium, Tilbury.

Come on you Blues !