After returning to winning ways in a dominant 7-1 victory over Bedford Town, the Martyrs travel away to relegation battling Alfreton Town for matchday 34 in the Enterprise National League North. Alfreton Town find themselves embroiled in a fight for survival at the bottom of the table, as they sit in 22nd place on 26 points - 7 points off survival. In their last fixture 'The Reds' travelled away to AFC Fylde and were defeated 3-0 on the day after a first half brace from Danny Ormerod and an own goal from defender Nathan Newall.

Previous Encounters:

The last fixture between Merthyr and Alfreton was an absolute thriller with goals galore. Alfreton Town took an early lead at Penydarren Park through goals from Mark Beck and Siyabonga Ligendza within 12 minutes. However, the Martyrs brought themselves back level on the brink of half time after Cole Jarvis struck in the 34th minute which was swiftly followed up by a goal from Ricardo Rees to make it 2-2 at the interval. Paul Michael's side dominated the second half with another goal from Cole Jarvis, a goal from Lewys Twamley, partnered with Ricardo Rees completing his hattrick, which was enough to seal a 6-2 victory over 'The Reds' at Penydarren Park.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | KEY STAFF

Manager | Jake Buxton

Manager Jake Buxton was appointed as manager in October 2025 following a disappointing start to the 2025/26 campaign for 'The Reds'. His playing career started at Mansfield Town in 2002, and Buxton stayed there for 6 years making 151 appearances for the side in which he scored 5 goals. During his 6-year spell at Mansfield Town, he departed the club and headed to Alfreton Town on a short-term loan in 2003 where he played 5 games for 'The Reds'. At the end of the 2007/2008 season Mansfield Town were relegated to the Conference Division (National League) and it was then that Buxton made the decision to finally depart Mansfield and sign for Burton Albion in August of 2008. Jake Buxton only spent one season at the club but in that time, he played a crucial role in the team as he helped guide the 'Brewers' to promotion from the Conference National (National League). During the title winning season, Buxton won the club's annual player of the year award and attracted lots of interest from football league club. After an impressive season with Burton Albion Jake Buxton earned himself a one-year contract with championship side Derby County who at the time were managed by Nigel Clough. Buxton had a long and successful time at Derby County as he played there between the years if 2009 and 2016, making 139 appearances and scoring 11 goals for 'The Rams'. Following a long spell at Derby County, in July 2016 Jake Buxton signed for recently promoted side Wigan Athletic on a 3-year contract. Despite making 39 appearances for Wigan in his opening season with the club, Buxton mutually decided to terminate his contract to make the move back to Nottinghamshire. Just one week after departing Wigan, Jake Buxton re-signed for Burton Albion where he spent the last 3 years of his playing career up until 2020. In May 2020, Jake Buxton was appointed as player-manager for Burton Albion following the resignation of previous manager Nigel Clough. Despite this, in December 2020 Buxton was sacked after a poor run of form which saw the 'Brewers' pick up 2 wins in just 21 league games. After leaving Burton Albion, Jake Buxton started work in the Derby County Academy in the role of Professional Development Phase Coach. In October 2022, Buxton took the step up and became the clubs lead under-18s coach and ahead pf the 2023/24 season, Buxton was appointed as Derby County's lead under-21s coach. Then in February 2025, Jake Buxton worked as an assistant head coach to assist caretaker Manager Matt Hamshaw. After a short spell as assistant head coach, Jake Buxton was assigned the role of Senior Transition Coach for Derby County's first team, a role where he would support players make the transition from academy football to first-team football. Then in October 2025, just 4 months after taking he role at Derby County, Jake Buxton was appointed as first team manager of Alfreton Town with the task of steering the club away from the relegation zone in the Enterprise National League North.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | SEASON SO FAR

Since the clash at Penydarren Park, Jake Buxton's side have struggled to pick up many valuable results with the side only winning 2 games since. Their poor run of results after being defeated by Merthyr started away at Scarborough Athletic where they managed to hold the playoff hopefuls to a goalless draw. However, in the following game, Alfreton travelled to Manchester to clash with Curzon Ashton. 'The Reds' faced late heartbreak on the day as an injury time goal from Bradley Holmes was enough to claim the 3 points for Curzon Ashton and send Alfreton Town home empty handed. In the two league games following this result, Alfreton faced both Southport and Worksop Town. Unfortunately for them, Jake Buxton's side only managed to claim 1 point in these games as they drew at home with Southport and lost 1-0 away from home against Worksop. In their final game of 2025, Alfreton managed to pick a long-awaited victory as they defeated Leamington 2-1 at home, following goals from Mark Beck and Lewis Salmon. Despite the victory, the next 2 games saw them return to previous form as they were defeated by both Darlington 3-1, and Bedford Town 2-1. In the 3 games prior to hosting Merthyr Town, 'The Reds' have had a decent run of results for their season which has seen them pick up 4 points from a possible 9 after they defeated King's Lynn Town 2-0 away from home, while they drew away at Chester 2-2 before their most recent match where they lost 3-0 away to AFC Fylde. The top goal scorers for Alfreton so far this 2025/26 league season are Billy Fewster and Siyabonga Ligendza who have both scored 4 times for Alfreton this season.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | 2025/26 SQUAD

Goalkeepers | Harry Burgoyne, James Wright

Defenders | Harry Perritt, Adam Lund, Max Hunt, Jo Cummings, Kieran Wallace, Nathan Newall, Bayley McCann, Kieron Freeman, Josh Clackstone

Midfielders | Sam Newell, Billy Fewster, George Cantrill, Ross Derham, Sam Osborne

Attackers | Joseph Dodoo, Gerry McDonagh, Josh Ayres, Lewis Salmon, Siyabonga Ligendza

Match Details:

Date | Saturday 14th February 2026

Competition | Enterprise National League North

Time | 15:00

Stadium | Impact Arena Stadium, North Street, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 7FZ