Magpies And The Heed Look To Put On A BT Sport Show

Maidenhead United’s home game with Gateshead is the BT Sport selection on Saturday and both teams know the importance of points on the board.

Whatever difficulties the Magpies have faced in recent years, they always seem to keep their head above water.

The Heed are still swimming in their title wave but don’t want to get sucked under after a challenging start.

Maidenhead under Alan Devonshire continue to show the rest that full-time status and a strong budget isn’t always required to keep competitive.

Early days of course, but they are already showing signs that they can avoid a struggle this time around too - victory in itself when you consider what the club are up against.

Maidenhead have even more reason to put on a show - it’s football for a fiver and the chance to win over some first time visitors.

Defender Zico Asare wants the extra support to pump up the volume in the live game, kick-off 3pm, and says they have given themselves the perfect boost going into the game.

After defeating Woking last time out, they put to one side the loss at Boreham Wood.

“We knew that we had to make amends for what happened in midweek,” he said following the 1-0 success over the Cards.

“We did that on Saturday and got three points and a clean sheet.

“We needed the momentum to go forward and hopefully we will see a big crowd against Gateshead to get us pumped up.”

Mike Williamson knows people will expect his team to remain down the bottom after a slow start which has seen just one win in their first nine matches.

He told the club’s YouTube channel that he is targeting improvement away from home after three straight defeats away from the International Stadium.

“We’ve had a good few days of training - it’s been a learning week,” the former Newcastle United defender said.

“We’re focused on what will be a very tough game on Saturday.

“It’s a difficult place to go. They have a very experienced manager in Alan Devonshire and they have an identity with the way they play.

“We’ve got to strip it back and go back to what we’re all about.

“We’ve got to show up and enjoy the battle - we’ve got to try and punish them with our pace and energy.

“I have asked the lads if we can give that one per cent each more. If they can then collectively we will be near where we need to be.”