PREVIEW: Luton Town v FC Halifax Town

Reborn as FC Halifax Town, the club started in the Northern Premier League Division One North and have swiftly made their back up the footballing echelon, topped off with victory over Brackley Town in the Conference North play-offs last season.

The first match of the season didn’t go anywhere near to plan though, as they were hammered 5-1 at Cambridge, but that was after being reduced to nine men after just 22 minutes.

The Shaymen proved that with a full quote of players they would take some stopping as they went on to beat Wrexham and Dartford at home, earn a creditable point at Macclesfield, before defeating Southport.

Games with Halifax are always guaranteed goals too, with the club the joint fourth top scorers division with 20 strikes, but have already shipped 19 at the other end.

A 3-1 defeat at Salisbury was soon followed up by a superb 4-0 hammering of Grimsby Town and a loss at Kidderminster was quickly forgotten too as Chester were beaten 2-1 on Saturday.

That result put the Shaymen up to ninth, level on points with Luton, and they could move second with victory at Kenilworth Road.

However, Halifax’s fine unbeaten record at home has not been mirrored away, as they are yet to taste victory on their travels, taking just one point from a possible 15, scoring five and conceding 14.

Manager Neil Aspin moved to strengthen his squad for their challenge at a higher level during the summer, bringing in the likes of Matthew Pearson, Kevin Holsgrove, Keith Briggs, Matthew Flynn, Simon Ainge and Paul Marshall, all with the experience of playing in the Skrill Premier.

They also pounced recently to bring in former Doncaster Rovers striker Jordan Ball on non-contract terms after the 20-year-old had been released in the summer.

Accrington Stanley forward Marcus Carver was also brought in on loan, and scored once during his time at the Shay, before his deal expired.

Team news: Hatters are almost at full strength for the clash as Paul Benson and Alex Lawless are expected to be fit, as is Alex Wall.

New signing David Viana is available, but although Jon Shaw had a run-out in the reserves, he is a week or so away, and Danny Fitzsimons is out.

The Shaymen will be without Matty Pearson after he picked up his fifth booking of the season against Chester on Saturday.

Jon Worthington is also out as he continues his recovery, while Marcus Carver has returned to parent club Accrington Stanley.

Top Skrill scorer - Hatters: Luke Guttridge, Mark Cullen (4). Shaymen: Lee Gregory (5).

Man in the middle: Nick Kinseley - second visit to Kenilworth Road this season after taking the 1-1 draw against Macclesfield in August.

Has shown 10 yellows in five games, but that included six in his first outing, and only one red so far.

Took Luton’s first game of the season last year, the 2-2 draw against Gateshead and then the 1-1 draw with Forest Green, sending off Alex Lawless and Al Bangura. Meanwhile, he also officiated Hatters’ 3-1 defeat at Woking too.

The year before, he reffed the 1-1 home draw with Forest Green, but Luton have won with him in charge, a 5-0 hammering at Kettering, where the hosts had Phil Ifil dismissed.

In charge: Neil Aspin - 48-year-old who had a successful playing career, starting life at Leeds United.

Made 244 appearances during a seven-year spell, before being sold to Port Vale for £150,000 where he went on to play well over 300 times.

Had further spells at Darlington and Hartlepool, before becoming manager of Harrogate Town in 2005.

Left the club in 2009 to move to FC Halifax where he has masterminded three successive promotions, taking them from the second tier of the Northern Premier League to the Conference.

View from the opposition: Former Town defender Simon Ainge (speaking to Halifax official website) said: “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve still got friends there from leaving at the end of last season. I’m looking forward to hopefully going there and getting the result.

“There’s a lot of pressure on Luton to get promoted, they’ve spent a lot of money and the pressure is on to them. There’s no pressure on to us, we’ll just go down there, relax and enjoy playing on a nice pitch, in front of a big crowd and enjoy the experience.

“Hopefully, if we keep tight and with people like Lee Gregory, Dan Gardner and Adam Smith, we’ll lock them in a hopefully get a goal.

“We’re full of confidence at the minute, so we need to go there and start again. I can’t see why we can’t get anything from the game.”

On boss John Still, Ainge continued: “He gets his messages across, he gets them to play at a certain way. He’s tightened them a lot at the back, and now I think that he’s trying to get the mix of scoring goals and keeping the clean sheet.

“If they get that right, I think that they could be the team to run away with it. I think he is a good manager and I do think that he will get them promoted in the future.”

Average home crowd: Luton: 6,336. Halifax: 1,567.

One to watch: Lee Gregory - 25-year-old striker who joined Halifax on a free transfer in August 2011 after leaving Mansfield.

Started the campaign with a bang, netting four in four, before spending a month on the sidelines, but was back amongst the goals against Chester on Saturday.

Friendly faces: Halifax defender Simon Ainge joined the club after being released by Hatters boss John Still at the end of last season.

Signed from Guiseley by previous boss Paul Buckle, he made 27 appearances, scoring twice for Town.

Meanwhile, Hatters striker Jon Shaw enjoyed a prolific spell at Halifax, netting 20 goals in 37 league appearances during the 2007-08 campaign when the Shaymen were last in the Conference.

We’ve got form: Town have yet to meet the new incarnation of Halifax, but played the former side on five occasions at Kenilworth Road, winning four and drawing one, scoring 14 times and conceding just twice.

They hit four past the Shaymen back in 1965 when John Moore, Ray Whittaker, John O’Rourke and Tony Read netted in a 4-1 victory.

Last time out: Luton hosted Halifax was in Division Three back in March 2002 when Town were 5-0 winners.

Matthew Spring, Chris Coyne, Steve Howard, Dean Crowe and Jean-Louis Valois were on target in front of a crowd of 6,830.

Hatters: Carl Emberson, Dave Bayliss, Chris Coyne, Russell Perrett, Matthew Taylor, Paul Hughes, Kevin Nicholls, Matthew Spring, Jean-Louis Valois, Steve Howard, Dean Crowe (Adrian Forbes 81).

Subs not used: Mark Ovendale, Marvin Johnson, Emmerson Boyce, Andrew Fotiadis.

Attendance: 6,830.

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