Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard expects a tough test at Gateshead on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) against a side who will be in the play-off picture.

Wood will make their second longest trip of the season on Friday - the longest being the cross-country trek to Barrow - when they travel to in-form Gateshead. Wood will stay overnight in the north east to reduce the impact of the 265-mile journey.

Neil Aspin's side are currently seventh in the National League standings, just a point shy of the play-off places after a good start to the campaign.

"It will be a tough game going up there," said Garrard. "You look at the side this year to last year and Neil Aspin has brought in a lot of quality. I think they will  be in and around it - I think those will be his aspirations and the club's aspirations to really push on."

On Saturday the north east outfit suffered something of a blip, losing 3-2 to Bromley, after crushing York City 6-1 in midweek. And Garrard knows only too well that the Tynesiders will be looking for revenge against his side.

"You will expect them to bounce back from losing to Bromley," he said. "For us it's about getting the group back together and we have a whole week to work on things. Hopefully we can get a positive result."

Former Harrogate Town and FC Halifax Town manager Aspin is in charge at the Gateshead International Stadium and Garrard was quick to praise the job the Gateshead-born boss has done since taking the role in November.

"He's done a superb job; it's been an unbelievable turnaround," Garrard enthused. "I know [former boss] Malcolm Crosby from my Swindon Town days and he had a hard start to last season and didn't manage to finish the season.

"Neil has brought some real quality to the table and you look at the result against York, no matter who you are playing, to win 6-1 is a massive achievement."

Winger Wes York wasn't on target in that crushing win but, along with Danny Johnson, is the Heed's joint-top scorer with three goals.

The former Wrexham and Nuneaton Town wideman joined the club this summer.

He previously netted 13 times in 56 league starts for the Dragons where he was signed by his former boss at Nuneaton, Kevin Wilkin.

Johnson, on the other hand, is in his second season on Tyneside. The 23-year-old, born down the road in Middlesbrough, netted 13 times last season for Gateshead and has made a bright start this term.

A youngster at Boro and Hartlepool United, Johnson slipped into non-league football before hitting 51 in just 48 outings for Guisborough Town.

That record caught the attention of Cardiff in the summer of 2014 but he never made a senior appearance for the Bluebirds.

Gateshead beat Boreham Wood twice last season. The first meeting, in the north east, was won 2-1 thanks to Ryan Bowman's 81st-minute strike after Jamie Lucas put the visitors ahead.

The reverse fixture saw the Heed go 2-0 up inside 11 minutes only to squander the lead by the 75th minute. Two minutes after that they were relieved when George Honeyman won it.