Woking vs Bromley: National League Preview, Play-off Eliminator, 2023

A trip to Wembley and a shot at promotion to the Football League is nearing ever closer for both Woking and Bromley, as they prepare to clash on Wednesday night, in the second Vanarama National League playoff eliminator.

One of those two teams will look to follow in the footsteps of Boreham Wood, who emerged from the Hive as 2-1 victors over close rivals Barnet a day earlier, but it certainly wasn't a walk in the park, and never is in these type of games.

Despite finishing the regular season in the final playoff spot, the Ravens travel to Surrey in arguably better recent form than their hosts, boasting an unbeaten record that stretches all the way back to mid-March - during that nine-game spell, Bromley have been able to pick up nineteen crucial points that ultimately allow them a chance for first-time promotion glory into the Football League.

The Cards have been huge overachievers this term, only narrowly denied a third-place finish, but form lately has been a bit shaky, defeated twice in their last six, including one loss to ten-man Halifax Town.

A promising sign for the host is their scoring factor, having only failed to get on the scoresheet in three of their 23 home games, while the Ravens rarely get thrashed away from home.

Though as we all know, in such knockout competitions, it is all down to who has the bottle and who performs better on the night.

Team News

Woking

Manager Darren Sarll has revealed that top scorer Rhys Browne's fitness is currently unknown following a half-time substitution during the win over Solihull Moors on Saturday.

Other than the 27-year-old, only Reece Grego-Cox, Jake Hessenthaler, and Jermaine Anderson are confirmed absences for Wednesday night.

James Daly, Billy Sass-Davies and Charlie Wakefield all trained on Tuesday so are in contention after being unavailable at the weekend.

Bromley

Andy Woodman should have a fully fit squad available to him, and despite social media rumours suggesting Cristiano Ronaldo may be interested in linking up with the Ravens, the club have denied that they are connected with the record-breaking Portuguese international.

Likely Lineups

Woking

Jääskeläinen, Lofthouse, Lopata, Moss, Casey, Ince, Kellermann, Nwabuokei, Browne, Amond, Daly

Bromley

Charles-Cook, Webster, Elerewe, Toppaloj, Fisher, Bingham, Reynolds, Forster, Krauhaus, Kendall, Marriott

Key Players

Rhys Browne (Woking)

There's no doubt that the addition of Rhys Browne to Woking's ranks for the best part of the 2022/23 season has proved a massive advantage to the promotion push, with the winger bagging 20 goals across twice as many appearances.

However, he has only managed a couple in his last six games, so will definitely be looking to get back on track, and use his skill and pace to exploit Bromley and maybe grab a few more goals before his season comes to a close.

Rhys Browne will be hoping to return to scoring form on Wednesday (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

James Vennings (Bromley)

Vennings might not be the name you were expecting to see up against Bromley's key man, but he has been an unsung hero this term, and his four assists really don't reflect the season he has had.

One thing the 22-year-old midfielder fully deserved was a call-up to the England C team that beat Cymru C in March, coming on as a substitute to see out the win. He will also be hoping to help see out a playoff victory in midweek away at Woking.