CHRIS MARRIOTT certainly prefers playing alongside Michael Wilde than against him!
Experienced full back Marriott was invited to pick the 11 best players he’s played alongside at The New Saints by S4C’s Sgorio.
And he had no hesitation in picking Wilde, who will be looking to stop the Saints from securing the league title this evening on their visit to Connah’s Quay Nomads.
“You want him on your side all day,” said Marriott. “That’s why he’s in my team. Definitely don’t want to play against him.
“You have to be looking out of the corner of your eye to see where he’s coming from with them elbows!
“But, when you’re playing with him, he makes your bad balls look like good ones, so it’s what you want as a defender.”
TNS need to avoid defeat and the title is all theirs as boss Craig Harrison aims to win the crown at The Deeside Stadium, where he started out the season as Nomads boss.
In tomorrow’s top six clashes, Bala Town host Cardiff Met and third-placed Penybont are at Newtown.
Flint Town United picked up a big win in their last match against Pontypridd but Lee Fowler won’t be taking tomorrow’s opponents lightly.
The Silkmen triumphed 4-1 at The Essity Stadium in the final game before the league split in two.
The teams go head to head at the same venue this weekend and since that last meeting, both Flint and Pontypridd have made a positive start to their Play-off Conference campaigns.
Flint are one point and a place above Pontypridd but former Wrexham midfielder Fowler is expecting another tough clash.
“We have picked up a lot of good results and I think it’s us and Pontypridd who are the two in-form teams since Christmas,” said Fowler.
“It is going to be a difficult game, they have brought in some very good players but ultimately they have still got the same weaknesses they had before.
“We beat them 4-1 last time so we have got to be matched up with that as well.”
Fowler was not impressed with the display last Saturday as Flint ground out a 2-1 win against relegated Airbus but picking up three points was all that mattered.
“We won but the performance was really poor,” he said.
“Put that on me because I gave them the week off - not the week before the game but the week before that - and we were a little bit lacklustre.
“It wasn’t a good performance but the result was perfect. We can’t be complacent between now and the end of the season, and we have got to make sure we train how we play and continue the hard work.”
Flint striker Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro (pictured right) is in the running for the February player of the month award and will look to add to his tally as will another nominee - Aberystwyth Town’s ex-Flint frontman Mark Cadwallader.
Aber go to Caernarfon Town tomorrow with Airbus heading to Haverfordwest tomorrow.
After a troubled campaign on the field, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for the Wingmakers.
There are six games left to claim that elusive first league victory of the campaign and they did create a clutch of opportunities in last weekend’s narrow loss to Flint.
Assistant boss Mark Allen told S4C’s Sgorio: “I think it’s probably the most chances we’ve created in this game for the whole season, really.
“The amount of entries we’ve put in the box and chances at the end that we should have scored, just didn’t go our way.”
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