Ahead of tonight’s BT Sport televised game, we chatted to Maidenhead United’s Media Officer Grace Scott about all things MUFC.

Maidenhead avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth last season – just like us! How would you look back on the season as a whole?

The season ended very differently to how a normal season would unfold of course, but we can take a lot from the games and results that we faced. The quality in the National League is improving every year and we can now focus on putting things right this season and taking each game at a time.

A lot of Wrexham fans actually think the covid curtailment saved us from the drop. Was this the case for Maidenhead too or were you confident of staying up?

A very tricky question! Who knows what could have happened?! Football is unpredictable and The National League is a brilliant league that you can’t predict week on week. I believe that our squad wouldn’t have been over confident of staying up and would’ve stayed true to ourselves and done everything that was in our control to the best of our ability.

How hard has the club been hit by the pandemic?

The club has been hit by the pandemic hard. At Maidenhead United, we used the time to support our local community through our ‘Magpies Community Care Hotline’ initiative and set up our ‘Magpies 150 Challenge’.

The hotline was used to give vital support to the local Maidenhead and Windsor Community, with our amazing DBS checked volunteers carrying out services such as food shopping, picking up prescriptions and being a listening ear to those who needed us.

As we celebrate the 150th Anniversary of our club, we aim to raise £150,000 for 15 local charities in Maidenhead and Windsor. We are asking people to take on a challenge around the numbers 150 and 15, set up a fundraising page and support our local charities with us! This week we reached the £15,000 milestone and are making the first payment of funding to the charities.

Alan Devonshire (and his iconic hat) has been at Maidenhead for five and a half years now – making him the longest serving manager in the National League. How good a job has he done?

Dev will always be so well respected at York Road and anywhere in the town of Maidenhead! He is such a kind and down to earth man who cares for not just the squad of players and staff he has, but everyone at the club and our community.

What do you make of the squad that’s been assembled this season? Nathan Blissett has done very well at this level in the past – on paper that one looked like a bit of a coup.

We have made some brilliant additions to our squad this season! The players we have brought in are not just great footballers but also genuine individuals that have the club’s best interests at heart. Nathan Blissett has definitely proved himself before and has made a positive start so far this season!

Prior to the season starting, what is the expectation for Maidenhead this season? Is it purely about survival?

This season is definitely not just about survival for us. With our celebrations off the pitch, it would be brilliant to compliment them with performances on the pitch but we are looking to improve as time goes on and see where 2020/21 takes us.

It’s been a very difficult start to the season for Maidenhead, losing all three of your opening games, scoring just two goals (both penalties) and conceding ten. What’s gone on?

A big question! As mentioned above, we have made some excellent additions to strengthen the squad this year and those three games have all shown the new signings gelling together and forming the bond on and off the pitch that will lead to winning performances.

Results do the talking in football but we need to remember that it is still early days this year and when the win comes, it may be the start of something special…

After a reasonable start against fancied opposition, I think most Wrexham fans will look at Maidenhead’s results and be expecting another win on Monday. What’s your score prediction?

My score prediction is 2-2. That’s all I can predict!

Many thanks to Grace for taking the time to speak to us. Follow her on Twitter – @gracerufc18. Best wishes to Maidenhead United in their special anniversary season (except for tonight, of course). Let’s hope their 150th celebrations go better than ours did!

Read more here: Maidenhead United and the Games We “Should” Be Winning