The Fleet travel to the Silverlake Stadium this Tuesday night for the final league fixture under lights of 2024/25. Eastleigh are the hosts for what will be the Fleet’s seventh visit of the last 14 years to the Spitfires.
Form guide
Eastleigh are eighth in the National League and pushing for the play-off places but they are making hard work of it, having lost their most recent fixture at Braintree. It was their first defeat in five matches but before that they had lost four games in succession – they sit four points off seventh but having played more games than teams around them.
Previous affairs
Eastleigh just about secured the three points at the Kuflink in November with Joe Quigley’s goal on the hour making the difference.
Last season, both teams won on home soil – the Fleet kept a clean sheet to win 3-0 (goals from Bryant Bilongo, Rakish Bingham and Luke O’Neill), a score which resulted in the end for Spitfires manager Richard Hill. In October 2023, Eastleigh won their home match 5-2 despite the Fleet taking the lead and a Darren McQueen brace.
The Fleet have won three of their six visits to Eastleigh, the last in 2018.
Who’s who
Ludwig Francillette has been Eastleigh’s most consistent defender this season. The 25-year-old impressed during his first season at Eastleigh, playing 38 times across all competition and he played a huge part in the club’s run to the third-round of the Emirates FA Cup last season. The centre-back also has 53 League Two appearances under his belt from his time at Crawley Town and has played 32 times for the Spitfires this season.
Tyrese Shade joined the Spitfires from Swindon Town but spent time on loan at Solihull Moors during the 2023/24 season, scoring twice against the Fleet last April. He was also involved in the Moors’ play-off campaign. He has represented Saint Kitts and Nevis seven times on the international stage and has played 31 times in all competitions with nine goals this season. That puts him one ahead of Paul McCallum who is having a much quieter season in terms of goals in 2024/25 than he did after top-scoring last campaign.
The manager
Kelvin Davis was appointed as Eastleigh boss following the departure of Hill in February 2024. The former goalkeeper made over 600 appearances as a player at various clubs including Luton Town, Wimbledon and Southampton. Retiring in 2016, he started out as first-team coach for the Saints and was there until 2022.
Ticket information for tomorrow’s fixture can be found here.
