RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Kickers host the Charlotte Independence hoping to build momentum from its late draw last Saturday night, but the Independence enter City Stadium looking to break into the top eight in the Eastern Conference after a win last time out. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Matchcenter: http://bit.ly/2tXetAj | Tickets: http://bit.ly/2ocV2Al | Broadcast: WTVR (RIC), WCCB (CLT)

Richmond Kickers news and notes

• Current record: 2-7-5, 11pts

• The Kickers grabbed a late draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies last Saturday as Franck Tayou’s equalizer earned a 1-1 draw at City Stadium.

• Tayou was making his debut for the Kickers, and his scissor-kick finish from the top of the penalty area was voted the Fans’ Choice Goal of the Week on Thursday.

• The Kicker remain winless in their last nine games, with the club’s most recent victory arriving on April 22 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

• United States U17 international Chris Durkin is second on the team with an average of 48.7 passes per 90 minutes, and has an 80.6 pass accuracy rate in seven appearances this season.

Charlotte Independence news and notes

• Current record: 4-3-4, 16pts

• The Independence opened their new home at the Sportsplex at Matthews last Saturday as a sellout crowd saw the side defeat the Harrisburg City Islanders 2-0.

• Colombian forward Jorge Herrera scored the first goal in the venue’s history, and was named to the USL Team of the Week for his performance on Tuesday.

• The victory saw the Independence break a three-game winless streak. The side is currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

• Sitting on 11 games played, Charlotte holds multiple games in hand on the four teams directly above it entering this weekend’s action.

Series Notes

• Charlotte holds a 3-2-2 all-time lead in the series between the teams after recording two wins and a draw last season.

Squads

• Richmond – GK: Marcel DeBellis, Alex Wimmer, Matt Turner; D: William Yomby, Chris Odoi-Atsem, Conor Shanosky, Evan Lee, Mallan Roberts, Alex Lee, Chris Durkin, Braeden Troyer; M: Fred Owusu Sekyere, Finnlay Wyatt, Yudai Imura, Patrick McCann, Raul Gonzalez, Samuel Asante, Matt Bolduc, Brandon Eaton, Simon Fitch, Luiz Fernando Nascimento; F: Oliver Minatel, Sunny Jane, Anthony Grant, Mikey Minutillo, Jackson Eskay, Franck Tayou

• Charlotte – GK: Cody Mizell, Kainoa Likewise, Kyle Renfro; D: Bilal Duckett, Henry Kalungi, Jared Odenbeck, Ashani Fairclough, Luke Waechter, Austin Yearwood, Dennis Castillo, Donnie Smith, Joel Johnson; M: Zev Taublieb, Lewis Hilton, Yann Ekra, Jun Marques Davidson, Callum Ross, Alex Martinez, David Estrada, David Spies, Jacob Bender; F: Casey Townsend, Jorge Herrera, Jaime Siaj, Enzo Martinez

Discipline

• Richmond – Accumulation warning: Chris Durkin

• Charlotte – Accumulation warning: Callum Ross

Officials

• REF: GREG DOPKA

• AR1: Mark Buda

• AR2: Charles Raney

• 4TH: Scott Ford

Game hashtag:

• #RICvCLT

Twitter social handles

• Richmond Kickers – @RichmondKickers

• Charlotte Independence – @CLTIndependence