Hereford United will be looking to get their season back on track against Margate at Edgar Street on Saturday after a disastrous two-week spell which has seen them exit from two cups and slip to fourth place in the Nationwide Conference.

The Bulls have not won in the Conference since October 7 and their only success in any competition since then was the 6-1 FA Cup fourth qualifying round mauling of lower-graded Harrow Borough.

Certainly they will be pulling out all the stops to avoid a repeat of last year's 3-2 defeat at Edgar Street which seriously dented United's play-off hopes.

On Saturday, Hereford will be without Jamie Pitman, serving a one-match suspension following his sending-off against Leigh RMI, but director of football Graham Turner will hope to be able to recall Ben Smith who missed the match at Accrington after falling ill on the journey north.

Margate are currently 16th in the Conference table after losing 2-1 to Woking at their temporary Dover home on Tuesday. But their lowly position does not reflect a useful away record which has seen them lose just twice, at Accrington and Dagenham & Redbridge, in nine away games.

United have sold around 1,700 tickets for their trip to Shrewsbury on Saturday week when they will be without the suspended Michael Rose.

They will hope to be without the club's small minority of hooligan followers - the reason Turner and club secretary Joan Fennessy were summoned to a police inquiry on Monday after trouble at Burton and Tamworth this season.

FA Cup report and pictures: Sports Times 2