Footballsouth Premier League leader Caversham will face a potentially difficult away match against seventh-placed Queenstown Rovers at the events centre today.
Caversham has been travelling well in the league this season with only one loss and two draws from 15 games, and has an 11-point buffer over second-placed Dunedin Technical.
Technical has both league and Chatham Cup aspirations to deal with over the closing two months of the season.
Caversham will be without the injured Rhys Henderson, who is still not fully recovered from a hamstring strain, and will also miss defender Mitch Carter, sidelined through a groin strain. Veteran Bradley Scott will be missing due to a calf injury.
The Rovers team will look for inspiration from attacking midfielder Daniel McClafferty, whose recent good form included a hat trick against Northern two weeks ago and a solid performance in a one-goal loss to Dunedin Technical.
Rovers will field the same team again today and this continuity is sure to increase the confidence of the players as they look to upset their pace-setting visiting side.
At Ellis Park, a settled Roslyn-Wakari will defend the Blair Davidson Challenge Shield when it plays Green Island.
Roslyn will be without keeper Peter Evans, with Mike Rae back between the posts after an injury layoff.
Green Island coach Malcolm Fleming will have to rejig his starting line-up with four of his regulars involved with the final Milk Cup preparation before the side leaves for Northern Ireland tomorrow.
The Sunnyvale side will be without goalie Josh Dijkstra and team-mates Nathan McDonnell, Connor Neil and Blake Porteous. Mosgiel, which plays Dunedin Technical, will also field a team depleted by Milk Cup absentees.
The young side will miss Riley Anderton, Hamish Cotter, Peter Coates, Manny Pohl and Daniel Gruppelaar, who will conclude their final preparation before embarking on a three-week football adventure against some of the top youth teams in the world.
Dunedin Technical will miss the services of Alistair Rickerby, who is suspended for the match, and also creative midfielder Sam Enright. He and striker Tom McBride are both on overseas trips.
In the final match of the round, Northern will have its hands full dealing with a motivated University team at Forrester Park as it looks to rebound after a hard-fought loss to Roslyn-Wakari last week.
- Wilson James.
