It has been a hit and miss start to the National League season for Woking who are ten games in without a draw.
Having picked up three impressive victories over Chesterfield, Notts County and Dagenham & Redbridge, the Cards have lost their last three matches.
That includes an exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Isthmian League Premier Division side Horsham, who played two divisions and 54 places below them.
At the weekend, the dismissal of centre-half Joe McNerney after 58 minutes of the televised match at Maidenhead United led to leaking two late goals to go down to a 3-2 defeat.
The first defeat of the three-match losing run came with a 1-0 defeat at home to league leaders, Grimsby Town.
Former Yeovil Town loanee Tahvon Campbell has been a major part of Woking’s good form.
The 24-year-old made Woking his 11th club having had two loan spells at Huish Park in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, scoring twice.
But, he has managed eight goals in his first ten matches for the Cards including doubles against Eastleigh, Chesterfield and Notts County in back-to-back matches.
He’s not scored his side last brace at Notts earlier in the month and has been paired alongside the powerful Inih Effiong, who signed from Notts County in the summer.
FROM THE MANAGER
It is fair to say Woking manager Alan Dowson is a man of few words and speaking to BT Sport after the final whistle of the 3-2 defeat at Maidenhead United last weekend, he was not giving much away.
He said: “You are not going to win games if you concede three goals and we have got a bit of a problem in that area.
“So I was disappointed with us defensively, but apart from that I thought we were in control for most of the game.
“It was an improvement (from the FA Cup exit at Horsham) but if you want to be involved you have to win these games.
“But they were well organised and they put the ball in the net, so fair play to them.
“You’ve just got to put every game behind you.”
TEAM NEWS
Central defender Joe McNerney, who has been an ever-present since rejoining the club in the summer after six years away at Crawley Town, will be missing on Tuesday night.
He was red-carded for denying a goal-scoring opportunity just before the hour mark in the 3-2 defeat at Maidenhead United at the weekend.
The televised fixture was an eventful one for the 31-year-old who deflected a ball in to his own net for Maidenhead’s first, then equalised when he popped up at the back post and finally saw red having collided with Kane Ferdinand who was through on goal.
Striker George Oakley will also be missing having suffered a broken leg in the win over Chesterfield earlier in the month and will be out for the rest of the season.
The summer signing from Scottish football had struck an impressive partnership alongside ex-Glover Tahvon Campbell up until that point.
A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS
Tahvon Campbell has already been mentioned in this preview.
The then-West Brom youngster had two fairly forgettable spells at the club in 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
He managed a goal in each spell and that was about it to be honest.
Fellow frontman Jamar Loza is another link between the clubs. He played five times on loan from Norwich City in 2015 and returned for his third spell at Woking last season.
Rohan Ince, who made two Yeovil Town appearances in a two-month stint on loan from Chelsea in 2012, arrived from Maidenhead in the summer and is a regular in the Cards’ midfield.
In the Glovers’ squad, top-scorer Joe Quigley had two loan spells at Kingfield whilst an AFC Bournemouth player in the 2015-16 season.
However, these three are far from the only players with a foot in both camps, a few others include:
- Josh Neufville
- Jake Gray
- Kieran Murtagh
- Nathan Ralph
- Kevin Betsy
- Steve Thompson
- Matt Hayfield
- Chris Giles
- Warren Patmore
- Colin Fielder
- Kevan Brown
- Robbie Carroll
- Richard Nugent
- Andy Clement
- Dave Piper
- Steve Stott
- Tom White
- Shaun Donnellan
- Jamie Pitman
- Luke Oliver
There are probably more. If you think of any, let us know and we’ll add them to the list.