Match Zone

Match Preview – Cheltenham Town (A)

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This afternoon sees the Alex make the trip to Whaddon Road to face Cheltenham Town.

This Season:

They sit in 15th place following wins against Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic, Oxford United, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Shrewsbury Town, Gillingham, Sunderland and Fleetwood Town,  they have drawn with us, Burton Albion twice, MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, Lincoln City, Oxford, Charlton Athletic, Wigan Athletic, AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers and Ipswich while they have lost against Wycombe, Fleetwood, Wigan, Sunderland, Rotherham United twice, Doncaster Rovers, Cambridge United, Shrewsbury and Plymouth Argyle.

They lost to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup 3rd Round after knocking out Bristol Rovers and Gillingham, the latter on penalties, while they lost to AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup 2nd Round after knocking out Gillingham following a replay.

They finished bottom of their EFL Trophy group following defeats against Bristol Rovers and Exeter City before beating Chelsea’s Under-21s, the latter two on penalties.

Transfers:

Since the last meeting, they have signed defenders Ben Williams and Reece Hutchinson, midfielders Daniel Crowley and Charlie Colkett as well as forwards Kyle Vassell and Charlie Brown, all on permanent deals, while they have signed defender Mattie Pollock, midfielder Aaron Ramsey and forwards Christian Nortan, Dan Nlundulu, Kion Etete and Jamie Soule on loan deals.

Leaving the club defenders Ben Tozer, Chris Hussey and Will Armitage, Crowley and Vassell on permanent deals with several youngsters heading out on loan.

Head-to-Head:

Alex Wins: 11
Robins Wins: 9
Draws: 7

Biggest Alex Win: 8-1 at the Alexandra Stadium in April 2011
Biggest Robins Win: 4-1 at the Alexandra in November 2016 (FA Cup)

Last Meeting:

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Cheltenham Town, 7th August 2021

Mikael Mandron opened the scoring for the hosts in the 28th minute before Andy Williams would equalise 5 minutes before the break.

Alex: Richards; Ramsay, Daniels, Offord, Adebisi; Lundstram, Murphy, Finney (MacDonald 70); Dale, Mandron, Ainley (Porter 87)

Cheltenham: Evans; Long, Raglan, Boyle; Blair, Sercombe, Thomas, Chapman, Hussey; Williams, May (Lloyd 80)

Played for Both:

The following players have been contracted to both teams:

Goalkeepers: Neil Cutler, Mark Gayle

Defenders: Billy Jones

Midfielders: Chris Clements, Ben Marshall, Kevin Stewart, Billy Waters

Forwards: Billy Dale, Steve Guinan, Danny Haynes, Amari Morgan-Smith, Tony Naylor, Luke Varney

Officials:

The officials for this game have been announced here with Anthony Backhouse the referee, David Hunt and Christopher Kidd are his assistants with Sam Allison 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
  • Accrington Stanley 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (24th November 2020)
  • Crewe Alexandra 3-2 Shrewsbury Town (8th May 2021) – Mandron (2), Porter
  • Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Gillingham (20th November 2021) – Long, Lowery

Opposition View:

I asked Cheltenham Town supporter Dave Higgins for his thoughts going into the game.

How would you describe this season so far?

It has been one that has exceeded expectations in many ways. Although we came up as champions the reality was that we are much smaller than some clubs at this level and the expectation was going to be a season of struggle. However, we’ve never really been fighting at the bottom and have had some excellent results along the way.

Even during a long winless run we were still scraping draws and looked competitive. Hoping for a strong end to the season now and to finish as high as possible.

What position do you feel you need to strengthen most ahead of next season?

We have a few loans in attacking areas, so we’ll probably need to look at strengthening the strike force and signing someone permanently to play alongside Alfie May if we’re able to keep hold of him!

Are there any players that are missing for the Robins?

George Lloyd, Charlie Brown and Ellis Chapman are all out and there’s fitness calls on a few others, but fingers crossed the rest of the squad will be available in some capacity.

What do you think the team will be?

Evans; Raglan, Pollock, Boyle; Blair, Ramsey, Bonds, Wright, Williams; Etete, May

Who are the Cheltenham danger men?

On current form, Alfie May. He’s scored 8 goals in the last 5 games, including the 4 against Wycombe last weekend, and is up to 15 for the season. The way he plays he won’t give the defence a moment’s rest and will usually pop up with a couple of chances.

What would be a successful rest of the season for Cheltenham?

I would still say survival. Given the size of the club and our general target for the season, we’d have to consider it a success to stay up. On current form and the way we’ve played at times this season we could possibly aim for mid-table, but most supporters will take avoiding a relegation scrap to the end.

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