Following a valiant effort reduced to 10 players for over 50 minutes, injury time despair prevailed for Steve Cunningham’s side last time out away to Hebburn Town as the North East outfit clinched three points thanks a converted penalty.

A Word From The Gaffer

Speaking after the 1-0 loss at Hebburn, manager Steve Cunningham said: “My players were absolutely unbelievable with everything they went through. I don’t think the performance merited the outcome.”

Commenting on the clash against Rylands, he went on to say: “They’ll be buoyant. We’ve just got to match what we’ve done. They are a tough opposition and we’re as good as the top three, four, five sides in the league but we’re not getting our reward at the minute.

“If we keep doing what we’re doing, keep doing the right things, and I’m sure the fans will be unbelievably proud of that performance against Hebburn - we’ve just got to take that into Saturday.”

Opposition Watch

Rylands are currently six points to the good inside the play-off zone perched in the fourth position.

After 24 games, Neil Reynolds’ team have won 11, drawn nine, and lost only four - the least defeats of any side in the league thus far.

Last time out they defeated Guiseley 1-0 courtesy an early strike from Harrison Wood.

Last Time We Met

Both sides last faced off against each other at Gorsey Lane earlier in the campaign. The points were shared in Cheshire as former Robin, Ben Hardcastle equalised with a penalty in the second half to cancel out Jason Gilchrist’s opener.

Matchday

Tickets for the game are available via cash and card turnstiles or online, priced at £14 for Adults, £10 for concessions, £8 for 12-15-year-olds, and £1 for under 12’s.

Please note, ID will need to be presented for any concessionary tickets if requested by a turnstile operator.

Turnstile 3 (on Surrey Street next to The Cross Bar) will be open from 12pm, for cash, card and pre-paid tickets.

The Cross Bar will be open from 12pm and access is from inside the ground only, there will be no access from the main entrance on Surrey Street.

We welcome both sets of fans into The Cross Bar for refreshments both prior to and after the match.

Alcohol not purchased from Ashton United is not permitted in the ground and stewards will be conducting bag searches on the turnstiles at their discretion.

At 2pm, the remaining turnstiles on Surrey Street and on Rowley Street will open as normal, as will the Robins Nest and the Robins Beer Hut inside Hurst Cross.

50/50 draw tickets will be on-sale both in The Cross Bar and on the ground, with match day programmes also available at the programme stand.

The AUFC Supporters club shop will open at 2:15pm, with memorabilia available to purchase from throughout the years.

If you cannot make it to the game, keep up on our Twitter feed @AshtonUnitedFC.