This evening sees a trip to 9th-placed Accrington Stanley’s Crown Ground with the hosts having as many as 3 games in hand over teams around them. Both teams will have a player in their squads that played for the other club last season, Offrande Zanzala signing for the Alex in the summer while former Alex loanee Michael Nottingham joined the Lancashire club from Blackpool last month.
This Season:
The league season started off with a 2-0 win against Peterborough United before back-to-back defeats against Burton Albion and Oxford United. They would win 5 of the next 6 league games (with a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich amongst them) before a goalless draw against Lincoln City on Saturday.
In the cups, they lost on penalties to Burton in the EFL Cup 1st Round and also exited the FA Cup at the same stage with a defeat at Tranmere Rovers. In the EFL Trophy, they topped their group after winning all 3 games (game 2 against Blackpool on penalties) and will play Manchester United’s Under-21s in a fortnight in Round 2.
Transfers:
Accrington have made 13 signings this summer, 7 permanent ones and six on season-long loans. Goalkeeper Nathan Baxter has joined on loan from Chelsea, defenders Cameron Burgress, Stephen Sama and Nottingham have all joined on permanent deals. Midfielders Matt Butcher, Tom Scully and Rhys Fenlon have all joined permanently with Chelsea youngers Tariq Uwakwe and Jon Russell joining on loan while Lewis Mansell, Ryan Cassidy and Thomas Allan (the latter 2 on loan) complete the signings.
They have let 14 players leave permanently, including Zanzala, while defender Reagan Ogle has joined AFC Fylde on loan until January.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 7
Accrington Wins: 6
Draws: 1
Biggest Alex Win: 6-1 at Ewood Park in December 1992 (FA Cup)
Biggest Accrington Win: 2-0 at the Alexandra Stadium in October 2017
Last Meeting
Accrington Stanley 0-2 Crewe Alexandra, 9th November 2019 (FA Cup)
The two sides met in last season’s FA Cup 1st Round with Charlie Kirk opening the scoring in first-half stoppage-time with Chris Porter doubling the lead midway through the second period before Mark Hughes was sent off for the hosts with 13 minutes to play.
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Hunt, Mbulu, Pickering; Lowery, Wintle, Green; Dale, Porter, Kirk
Accrington: Evtimov, Johnson (Neves 69), Hughes, Alese, Opoku (Sykes 74), Conneely, Clark, McConville (Charles 46), Finley, Pritchard, Bishop
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Bertrand Bossu, Andrew Dawber, Ross Etheridge, Stuart Jones, Alan Martin, Paul Rachubka
Defenders: Omar Beckles, Martin Clark, Adam Dugdale, Nicky Hunt, Darran Kempson, Colin Murdock, Michael Nottingham, Mark Roberts, Gus Wilson
Midfielders: Wayne Goodison, Tony Grant, Lee Molyneux, Alan Navarro, Liam Nolan, Gary Roberts, James Robinson
Forwards: Wes Fletcher, Andy Gayle, John Miles, Michael Symes, Offrande Zanzala
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Anthony Backhouse the referee, David Avent and Robert Atkin are his assistants with Samuel Barrott the fourth official. The following Crewe games have been refereed by Backhouse in the last 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Barnet (19th August 2017) – Porter
- Crewe Alexandra 0-2 Accrington Stanley (21st October 2017)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Blackburn Rovers (13th December 2017, FA Cup)
- Crewe Alexandra 3-1 Forest Green Rovers (20th March 2018) – Bowery (2), Kirk
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Stevenage (29th December 2018) – Porter
- Crewe Alexandra 1-3 Burton Albion (3rd September 2019) – Green
- Bolton Wanderers 2-3 Crewe Alexandra (8th September 2020, EFL Trophy) – Mandron (2), Dale
