| POS | TEAM | P | GD | PTS | PPG |
| 17 | BROMLEY | 25 | -8 | 27 | 1.08 |
| 18 | HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE | 26 | -9 | 26 | 1.00 |
| 19 | ALDERSHOT TOWN | 26 | -20 | 26 | 1.00 |
| 20 | DOVER ATHLETIC | 26 | -18 | 24 | 0.92 |
| 21 | MAIDENHEAD UNITED | 25 | -22 | 24 | 0.96 |
| 22 | CHESTERFIELD | 25 | -10 | 23 | 0.92 |
| 23 | MAIDSTONE UNITED | 25 | -19 | 19 | 0.76 |
| 24 | BRAINTREE TOWN | 26 | -25 | 15 | 0.58 |
Braintree Town are bottom of the Vanarama National Division with just three wins recorded in their twenty-six games played which came 0-1 away at Gateshead along with victories over fellow relegation fighter's Dover Athletic (2-1 at home) and Bromley (2-4 away). Since their win against The Ravens on Tuesday 30th October they have only picked up two points from a potential twenty-four on offer. Encouragingly these points were picked up against Sutton United and Boreham Wood who both could get into the play-offs being placed 8th and 11th at present.
It's going to be very difficult for The Iron to get out of the bottom four and even their most ardent fan will know this. There are still twenty games to play so it's never over and until it's over but if we look at the average number of points required to finish in twentieth place over the past four seasons (see table below) it works out at 48.50 which if we round down to 48 they will need to pick up 33 points from their last twenty games which equates to 1.65 points per game compared to their 0.58 ppg at present.
It's been a very difficult season for Chesterfield who bookmakers rated as 7/1 second favourites for the title in June following their relegation from the football league. These odds have now lengthened to 2500/1 with some firms as The Spireites are third from bottom with only four wins from twenty-five league games played. They are in real danger of being relegated for a third successive season - their 0-4 home defeat to Solihull Moors yesterday saw a small group of fans enter the pitch and others in the stands and outside of the ground protest about the current running of the club. It was only four seasons ago in 2014/15 they finished in 6th place in League One!
Martin Allen's side have drawn eleven of their games which is the most in the division at present so that is a plus in that they are not easily beaten. They will need to improve on their goal-scoring which at just 21 is the worst in the league.
CURRENT FORM OF BOTTOM EIGHT
Dover Athletic have had a real good run of form of late having appointed Andy Hessenthaler as boss on Monday 8th October. He rejoined the club he won back-to-back promotions with from Eastleigh and has won five in eleven games so far winning seventeen points which is much better than the seven points from their opening fifteen games they recorded.
Maidstone United are another team in real danger having picked up just one point from their last six league games played with their 3-1 Boxing Day defeat to Kent and relegation rivals Dover Athletic a real disappointing result for them. The Stones are missing the goals of Blair Turgott who scored 14 times prior to being ruled out with a knee injury for up to six weeks at the beginning of December.
With just four points currently separating 17th to 22nd place and teams just above Bromley such as Barnet, Hartlepool United and Dagenham & Redbridge still not safe it's going to be an interesting second half of the season.
Looking towards the top of the division it's Leyton Orient who are currently top but they lost to Dagenham and Redbridge on Boxing Day with Wrexham moving into second place thanks to a 5-1 win over Salford City in front of a massive 8,283 crowd at The Racecourse Ground. The return games are on New Years Day with the Leyton Orient v Salford City game on Saturday 5th January probably the biggest of the season so far.
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
Saturday 29th December
Barrow v Salford City
TWENTIETH PLACED TEAM FOR LAST THREE SEASONS
| SEASON | TEAM | P | GD | PTS | TEAM BELOW (PTS) |
| 14/15 | WELLING UNITED | 46 | -21 | 45 | ALFRETON (45) |
| 15/16 | GUISELEY | 46 | -23 | 49 | FC HALIFAX (48) |
| 16/17 | GUISELEY | 46 | -17 | 51 | YORK CITY (50) |
| 17/18 | BARROW | 46 | -12 | 49 | WOKING (48) |
It's been a very difficult season for Chesterfield who bookmakers rated as 7/1 second favourites for the title in June following their relegation from the football league. These odds have now lengthened to 2500/1 with some firms as The Spireites are third from bottom with only four wins from twenty-five league games played. They are in real danger of being relegated for a third successive season - their 0-4 home defeat to Solihull Moors yesterday saw a small group of fans enter the pitch and others in the stands and outside of the ground protest about the current running of the club. It was only four seasons ago in 2014/15 they finished in 6th place in League One!
Martin Allen's side have drawn eleven of their games which is the most in the division at present so that is a plus in that they are not easily beaten. They will need to improve on their goal-scoring which at just 21 is the worst in the league.
CURRENT FORM OF BOTTOM EIGHT
| TEAM | P | GD | PTS |
| DOVER ATHLETIC | 6 | +3 | 13 |
| HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE | 6 | -1 | 8 |
| MAIDENHEAD UNITED | 6 | -1 | 7 |
| CHESTERFIELD | 6 | -4 | 6 |
| BROMLEY | 6 | -6 | 4 |
| BRAINTREE TOWN | 6 | -7 | 2 |
| ALDERSHOT TOWN | 6 | -8 | 2 |
| MAIDSTONE UNITED | 6 | -9 | 1 |
Dover Athletic have had a real good run of form of late having appointed Andy Hessenthaler as boss on Monday 8th October. He rejoined the club he won back-to-back promotions with from Eastleigh and has won five in eleven games so far winning seventeen points which is much better than the seven points from their opening fifteen games they recorded.
Maidstone United are another team in real danger having picked up just one point from their last six league games played with their 3-1 Boxing Day defeat to Kent and relegation rivals Dover Athletic a real disappointing result for them. The Stones are missing the goals of Blair Turgott who scored 14 times prior to being ruled out with a knee injury for up to six weeks at the beginning of December.
With just four points currently separating 17th to 22nd place and teams just above Bromley such as Barnet, Hartlepool United and Dagenham & Redbridge still not safe it's going to be an interesting second half of the season.
Looking towards the top of the division it's Leyton Orient who are currently top but they lost to Dagenham and Redbridge on Boxing Day with Wrexham moving into second place thanks to a 5-1 win over Salford City in front of a massive 8,283 crowd at The Racecourse Ground. The return games are on New Years Day with the Leyton Orient v Salford City game on Saturday 5th January probably the biggest of the season so far.
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
Saturday 29th December
Boreham Wood v Maidstone United
Chesterfield v Hartlepool United
Dagenham & Redbridge v Barnet
Dover Athletic v Leyton Orient
Ebbsfleet United v Eastleigh
Gateshead v FC Halifax Town
Harrogate Town v AFC Fylde
Havant & Waterlooville v Bromley
Maidenhead United v Braintree Town
Sutton United v Aldershot Town
Wrexham v Solihull Moors
Tuesday 1st January
AFC Fylde v Barrow
Aldershot Town v Maidenhead United
Barnet v Boreham Wood
Braintree Town v Ebbsfleet United
Bromley v Sutton United 7.45pm
Eastleigh v Havant & Waterlooville
FC Halifax Town v Harrogate Town
Hartlepool United v Gateshead
Leyton Orient v Dagenham & Redbridge
Maidstone United v Dover Athletic
Salford City v Wrexham
Solihull Moors v Chesterfield
Saturday 5th January
Bromley v AFC Fylde
Chesterfield v Ebbsfleet United
Dagenham & Redbridge v Boreham Wood
FC Halifax Town v Braintree Town
Gateshead v Maidenhead United
Hartlepool United v Maidstone United
Havant & Waterlooville v Barrow
Leyton Orient v Salford City
Solihull Moors v Eastleigh
Sutton United v Harrogate Town
Wrexham v Dover Athletic
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