Wanganui City will be playing in Palmerston North today. Photo/File
Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic will look to overcome a major player departure when they return home today to host Jeff Gleave Decorating Feilding Firsts on Wembley's main pitch in the Lotto Federation League.
Meanwhile, Wanganui City trip back over to Skoglund Park in Palmerston North to take on the Hokowhitu Rangers in the Western Premiership.
The Wanganui Athletic women make the long journey to Wellington to take on Upper Hutt City tomorrow.
A win will be critical for Athletic in their 2.30pm match, as they sit just four points behind league leaders Team Taranaki.
This week also saw the shock departure of the Reds attacking midfielder, Kyle Graham-Luke, who made the move north to Athletic's major Taranaki rival.
"To be honest, it has happened very quickly," Team Taranaki coach Ian McGrath commented upon securing Graham-Luke's signature. "I had no idea until Monday morning that Kyle had made a decision to leave Athletic for personal reasons and, as soon as I heard that news, I made contact and within the day he had agreed to sign with us."
McGrath felt confident that Graham-Luke, who had previously played for Team Taranaki as an invitational player in an Under-19s tournament last year, was ready for the challenge.
"It is not like Celtic and Rangers, we have to put things into perspective.
"He just wants to play football at the highest level he can, he is prepared to travel up each week to train with the squad and he is motivated to win games with us. He will have no problem pulling on the Taranaki jersey and we will make him feel at home very quickly."
The last outing between Athletic and Feilding saw the Reds defeat their hosts on home turf with the score at 2-0 when the full-time whistle blew.
The Reds will need to repeat that feat and would be keen to slot a few more past the visitors this time as goal difference may become crucial should they catch the league leaders.
Athletic will be looking to keep their miserly defensive record intact as well and will be wary of Feilding, who have spoiled the chances of a few opposition teams this season notably collecting a 2-0 win over third place North End AFC.
The coaching staff will no doubt have been looking to cement the middle of the park today, to give themselves plenty of opportunities in the attacking third, and give the likes of Josh Smith and Anthony Bell plenty of opportunities to put the ball away in the back of the net.
James Oxtoby will likely feature in the middle of the park today, as Athletic look to dominate possession and control the pace of the game.
His midfield partner, Troy Smith, who is starting to find some scoring form himself, will also play a key role in allowing the Reds to push forward, and might even contribute a goal or two of his own.
This might turn into a blowout, but to be on the safe side, I'm picking a 3-0 victory to Athletic.
Wanganui City makes the trip back over to Palmerston North today, as they come up against second-placed Hokowhitu Rangers at Skoglund Park.
The last outing between these two teams was a bitterly fought game, with City managing to come away with the victory after a late goal to Jake Lockett. Coach Kelvin Francis would have been reminding the City squad about the task they now face, with Hokowhitu sure to have improved.
The central defensive pairing of Adrian Ngaau and Dylan Howells will have their work cut out them this and will need to continue their rock-solid performances if they are to keep Hokowhitu from troubling Jason Fergusson's goal mouth.
It's likely Chris Annabell will again be called on to boss the midfield and provide attacking options, while being the first line of defence to stop Hokowhitu building play.
He has shown this season he is up to that task and could prove the difference between the two teams today.
With both teams keen to play possession based, attacking football, and with the last match needing a late goal to separate them, I'm picking this one could easily end up as a goalless draw.
Wanganui Athletic women travel to Upper Hutt City tomorrow to play on an unfamiliar turf surface at Maidstone Park.
With 68 goals scored against them, the women in red will be hoping to put a stopper in their leaky defence, while taking the most of the opportunities that present themselves and get some shots on the opposition goal.
Athletic fell off against Wellington United with poor fitness, but did show glimpses of good football, as the team dynamic has changed under new coach Donna Kahl.
Kahl seems to have invigorated the players after some lacklustre performances and has restored some belief to the squad that they can find some competition points this season.
Upper Hutt City, who sit fifth on the Central League table, will not be an easy opposition on the road to redemption though.
But given City have come off a loss in their last game, managing only to battle out draws in the previous two fixtures before that, Athletic may see this as a good chance to strike out and claim at least a point.
Artificial turf is never easy for teams that have not played on it before, but this could be in favour of the visitors as the consistent surface should allow for cleaner passes, and more direct play.
While I don't think the Wanganui Athletic women will walk away with a point from this one, they may finally put one or two in the back of the net and continue to rebuild their season.