STEVE HALLIWELL is braced for a selection crisis ahead of Gresford’s home game against Holyhead Hotspur tomorrow.

Four of Athletic’s first team regulars are suspended after they were sent off in the midweek game against Guilsfield.

Incensed by the decisions made against his side, Halliwell instructed his players to leave the pitch before full-time.

And while the club wait to hear the consequences of their actions from league officials, Halliwell must now turn his focus to facing Holyhead with a depleted squad.

The absences of Tom Freeman, Owen Roberts, Max Peate and Josh Griffiths are all likely to be keenly-felt for the Colliers tomorrow.

Halliwell  said: “These are massive losses in key areas of the pitch, so it’s a huge blow for us as a club.

“We have a small squad as it is, so selection-wise it puts me under a lot of pressure.

“We’ll be bringing in some of the younger lads from the reserves for the game to try to fill the holes in our squad.

“It’s far from ideal but that’s the situation we find ourselves in and we’ll just have to make the best of it.

“We felt this game was the start of really important run of fixtures in terms of shaping our season and this will have a big impact.”

Defensive solidity and better organisation have been the cornerstone of Flint Town United’s recent improvement according to Niall McGuinness.

Flint have registered clean sheets in three of their last five games, a trend Silkmen boss McGuinness hopes to continue in tomorrow’s home clash with Caersws.

The addition of central defenders Jacob Lever and Jacques Welsh has been central to that improvement, with the duo singled out for praise by their manager.

McGuinness said: “When I first came here I felt that we were vulnerable at times in games and that we’d often get exposed defensively.

“I think Jacques and Jacob have done fantastically well since joining us and have helped to tighten us up.

“There’s a better balance within our set-up, I think, which we’re benefiting from now.

“As a manager, you’ve got to build your foundations around the defence and we’re certainly stronger in that respect now.

“Teams have struggled to break us down because of the way we’ve set ourselves up and that will only help us in the long-term.”

Despite an upturn in form, Flint remain 11th in the table, a position McGuinness hopes to improve quickly.

On tomorrow’s opponents at Cae-y-Castell, he said: “To be honest I haven’t seen much at all of Caersws this season, so they’re a little bit of an unknown quantity right now.

“But like us, Caersws are battling at the wrong end of the table and it’s a game we’re desperate to win.

“It’s about us doing our job right. When we do that we can compete with any team in this league.”

McGuinness is boosted by the return of full-back Jack Lewis, although forward Morgan Jones misses out.

John Haseldin says his title-chasing Holywell side are out to ‘right a few wrongs’ at Porthmadog tomorrow.

The Wellmen have not played since their game with Llandudno Junction was abandoned a fortnight ago, but remain second in the table.

And Haseldin wants his in-form team to showcase their title credentials with a win at Y Traeth tomorrow.

He said: “We lost twice against them last season in two pretty disappointing performances and we want to put that right.

“There are still a few scores to settle in our remaining games this season and now we want give the best possible account of ourselves in every game.

“It’s been a frustrating few weeks really. When you’re on a good run the games can’t come quickly enough, but obviously the weather at this time of year disrupts things and you can lose that momentum.

“It’s up to us to come back as sharp as possible against an unpredictable Porthmadog.

“They were beaten 6-0 in their last game, which hasn’t done us any favours because there will be a reaction from them.”

Danny Desormeaux is Holywell’s only absentee for the game with Brady McGilloway likely to deputise in midfield.

Martin Ford admits that Queen’s Park’s home game against Caernarfon will be a ‘David versus Goliath’ encounter.

Ford’s side were beaten 7-0 by the league leaders in September, but insists tomorrow’s clash will be more than a damage limitation exercise.

He said: “It’s a great game for us, especially with the huge following Caernarfon bring with them.

“It’s a chance for us to measure ourselves against the league’s best and it will be a measure of how far we’ve come. 

“We want to try to play football on the front foot and show what we can do, it’s not just going to be us sitting back and defending for 90 minutes.

“The postponements we’ve had have left us frustrated and we can’t wait to get back on the pitch now.”

Gary O’Toole will make his debut for Queen’s Park, who are at full-strength.

Andy Thomas has challenged the Airbus players to find their creative spark against Ruthin Town tonight.

The league fixture follows last weekend’s disappointing League Cup exit as the Wingmakers laboured for long spells in a 1-0 home defeat to Flint.

That lacklustre performance left Thomas reeling and he has called for ‘big improvements’ from his players at home to a strong Ruthin outfit.

He said: “Basically it just wasn’t good enough from us.

“We struggled to create anything and we really felt the loss of some of our ineligible players in that game.

“But we’ll have four or five back in for Saturday and hopefully they can all make a difference for us and get us playing.

“We’ll need them against Ruthin , who are a very good team, one of the best in this league, and I’ve always said they’ve got a lot of quality.

“I don’t think they get talked about very much and they certainly don’t get the credit they deserve.

“But we’re fully focused on getting back on track with three points with only the league to concentrate on now.”

The club’s prospect of a return to winning ways has been boosted by the return of Stef Edwards, Ashley Williams, Danny Williams and Curtis Strong.

Tomorrow’s other games see basement side Llandudno Junction host Guilsfield, while Denbigh Town visit Penrhyncoch.