Home comforts may prove to be beneficial for us with the Mullets never beating us at home, either at West Street or Fetcham Grove. But this time they head across the border into Surrey with a run of 5 unbeaten league matches – a run which stretches back to November when Billingshurst beat them 2-1 at Jubilee Fields.

We are looking for back-to-back wins in the league for the first time since October when we beat Seaford Town and Billingshurst at home respectively. We registered our first win in seven in all competitions with an assertive win over Hailsham last week.

Our last encounter with Arundel finished with a 4-1 away for Epsom back on Easter weekend in 2022. A double from Athan Smith-Joesph, a first goal for the club from Ricardo Fernandes and a fine finish from Mike Hill, who was wearing his infamous Air Force Ones at the time. This time things won’t be so easy.

Arundel’s Fine Form

At the end of last season, Arundel finished second bottom, only with Storrington four points behind them, who were eventually relegated to division two of the Southern Combination league. But this season, with half the games already played, Arundel currently sits seventh, with more than double their win tally from last season already. Their turnaround this season is down to two parts. One, they have a better defensive record this season, having the 6th best defence in the league and secondly, their attack this year seems to be more dangerous than previous with Harry Russell currently being the joint third top goalscorer in the league on eleven goals. He seems to be their dangerous man, but he hasn’t played since the 2nd of January when he received a straight red card in the 77th minute in the Mullet’s away 1-1 draw with East Preston. If Arundel’s final match (Home to Shoreham) before they travel to Fetcham Grove goes ahead, Russell will be in line to return against Epsom.

Photo Credit: Chris Gregory

Team News

We recently published a full story on arrivals, and departures and gave an update on our injury list, read the full story here.

We look to have Gideon Acheampong back from a slight calf strain which kept him out of the trip to Hailsham but Johnny Akoto and Jamie Byatt still look to be sidelined with hamstring injuries. 

Whilst the injury list is short and all other players are fit, we will also be without new on-loan goalkeeper Toby McKimm who will start a three-match suspension after being sent off against Hailsham when he was judged to have handled the ball outside the area.

Facts and Stats

We are looking for our first back-to-back wins since October while Arundel looks to get keep their unbeaten record.

We have never lost to Arundel competitively, with the only loss coming in a friendly back in 1982. In the six games we have played competitively, we have registered five wins and one draw.

Match Officials

Referee – Joshua Plumb

Assistant – Paul Preston

Assistant – Peter Shepherd