A BADLY depleted Bangalow face a tough challenge to stop Lismore Thistles stealing fourth place from them, when they meet at Bangalow today in Far North Coast premier league soccer.

The Bluedogs will be missing classy midfielders Luke Wakefield and Ihsan Savran, whose combination has been fundamental to their success this season.

Defensive general Ricky Small is also out through suspension and with his backline partner Connor Benfield nursing a hamstring twinge, coach Neil Fuller faces a major reshuffle.

‘Plenty to play for’

“It’s going to be a test of character for us,” he said. “We know Thistles will be strong in midfield with Darren Beardow and Chris Hunt in good form, but we’re at home with plenty to play for.”

Fuller will fill the midfield gap with Rory Devlin and Bryn Hicks, who will be making his debut start at premier level.

While their defence and midfield will be disrupted, the Bluedogs still boast a potent frontline.

Sam Ireland, Byron Milne and Josh Cole will all be ready to capitalise on any errors from the Blues backline, which will be weakened by the absence of Max Hospers and Max Toovey.

Thistles coach Craig Kennedy will move Jeremy Sullivan into Hospers’ role and bring striker Luke Kennedy back into his frontline to join Jye Wilson and the in-form Nathan McCann, who is enjoying his best season.

‘Bangalow a dark horse’

“Despite Bangalow being understrength I still rate them as a dark horse, but we’ll go in confident after some good performances in recent weeks,” Kennedy said.

Kick off is 3pm.

It will be a case of top meets bottom when league leader Goonellabah hosts cellar dweller Italo Stars today at 3pm.

The Hornets will be looking for a return to form after last week’s surprise loss to Casino, which cut their lead over Rovers and Byron to just one point.

While Goonellabah will start as hot favourite, Stars have plenty of fighting spirit and several key players capable of causing the Hornets some problems.

Lismore Workers will be bubbling with confidence after becoming the first side to beat Rovers last week, and should be able to back it up with an away win over Alstonville today at 3pm.

The Redmen need to string a few wins together to force their way into the top five, while Villa are due some luck after a series of narrow losses.