By Reuben Young

The Highwaymen have just the one away fixture during November, and that is against Washington at the Nissan Sports and Leisure Complex.

Name: Washington FC

Nickname: The Mechanics

Founded: 1947

Ground: Nissan Sports and Leisure Complex, Washington Road, Sunderland, SR5 3NS

Craik Park to Washington: 23.3 miles

Last season: 19th

Twitter: @WashingtonFC01

Morpeth have an impressive record against Washington, having not lost in their last eight meetings. Only one of them has been a draw, which was a start of the season encounter in 2015/16.

The Highwaymen have actually never lost at home to the Mechanics since 1996.

Their last meeting was a slender 1-0 win at Craik Park, where Denver Morris scored the only goal of the game. Two minutes from time Washington missed the chance to scrape a draw, when Matty Waters hit the post from the penalty spot.

The away fixture at the Nissan Sports and Leisure Complex ground was a much more one-sided affair, where Morpeth found themselves 4-0 up after 50 minutes. A Mark Davison brace and strikes by Michael Turner and Keith Graydon settled a comfortable 4-1 away win that day.

Washington are under new management for the upcoming season, with James Clark and Michael Laws taking the reigns.

Both were at the club last season, Clark as assistant manager and Lewis as player coach. Joint-manager Clark recently was coach of Northern League outfit Whitley Bay, while Laws, as a player, won three League titles in four years at Spennymoor Town.

The club was on the verge of resigning from the Northern League at the end of last season, however, an appeal led to an approach by Washington AFC, a long established junior club in the town. This allowed the club to stay afloat and continue in the league next season.

The dangermen for Washington are former Middlesbrough academy player Matthew Waters, who scored 24 goals, and youngster Jake Pickard who scored six goals and assisted eight in 12 games.

The meetings between the two sides usually end in a goal fest, with Morpeth scoring 45 in their 17 matches against Washington FC.

The overall record stands at 12 Morpeth wins, 2 Draws and 3 Washington FC wins, since the 1996-97 season.