Eastleigh travel to the Laithwaite Community Stadium to face fellow National League opposition Woking in the Third Round of the FA Trophy on Tuesday 20th December with a 7:45pm kick-off.
Eastleigh:
Eastleigh return to action after 10 days out due to the weather conditions. Last time out, two wonder strikes from Wrexham saw the Spitfires suffer only their second defeat at the Silverlake Stadium all season.
Entering the FA Trophy in Round Three, Eastleigh will be looking to at least match their efforts from last season where they reached the Fourth Round before being eliminated by a 2-1 defeat to Notts County.
However, to do so they will need to avenge a 1-0 defeat away from home in the league already this season against the Cards.
The Spitfires’ best-ever run in the competition came in 2013/14 when Eastleigh reached the quarter-finals.
Woking:
Woking currently occupy fourth place in the Vanarama National League, nine points and five places above the Eastleigh.
A narrow 1-0 victory over the Spitfires in October started a run of four wins in a row propelling the Cards from seventh to fourth, however, the form has been less impressive recently having won just once in the last four outings the latest of which was a 2-0 defeat to 10-men York City.
Reece Grego-Cox is the club’s top scorer this season having found the net nine times in 17 appearances this season.
Woking lifted the FA Trophy three times in four years from 1993-1997 however have only made it past the quarter-finals once since.
Last season the Cards were dumped out in Round Three following a 3-1 defeat at Yeovil Town.
Previous Meetings:
With the match initially postponed due to a frozen pitch, both sides have had 10 days to re-energise due to further postponements.
Eastleigh recorded a league double over the Cards in the most dramatic fashion last season.
However, a 1-0 victory for Woking this season saw them extend the head-to-head lead over the Spitfires.
Overall, the two sides have faced off 23 times in their history, with Woking edging Eastleigh in the head-to-head having won eight of those matches. The Spitfires have won five of the 23 fixtures between the two teams. There have been a whopping 10 draws in this pairing previously, indicating a very even battle over the years.
Last Five Meetings:
29/10/22 | Woking 1-0 Eastleigh
07/05/22 | Woking 1-2 Eastleigh
25/09/21 | Eastleigh 3-2 Woking
10/04/21 | Eastleigh 0-0 Woking
28/12/20 | Woking 0-0 Eastleigh
By Sajidur Rahman
