The final game before Christmas sees a trip to Gloucestershire to face Forest Green Rovers tomorrow afternoon.
Looking at the hosts, so far this season they have 8 victories, 9 draws and 4 losses in the league as they sit in 9th place. They have beaten Grimsby Town, Notts County, Crawley Town, Cambridge United, Tranmere Rovers, Exeter City, Carlisle United and Yeovil Town, they have drawn against Oldham Athletic, Bury, Stevenage, Swindon Town, Port Vale, MK Dons, Macclesfield Town, Newport County and Cheltenham Town while they have lost to Northampton Town, Lincoln City, Morecambe and Colchester United.
In cup competitions, they lost to Wycombe Wanderers on penalties in the EFL Cup 2nd round after beating Swindon in Round 1 while they lost to Oxford United in the FA Cup in a replay. They beat Cheltenham before losing to Coventry City via a shootout to set up a winner-take-all game against Arsenal’s Under-21 team with the Gunners winning 3-1.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met just twice with Forest Green winning the corresponding fixture 3-2 with the Alex winning in South Cheshire 3-1.
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Matthew Donohue as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Christopher Husband and Thomas Harty with Andrew Aylott being the fourth official. It is the first game that Donohue would referee Crewe or Forest Green since being promoted to the Football League referee list for this season.
I asked Forest Green supporter Laurie Martin for his thoughts going into the game.
What do you think of Forest Green’s season so far?
It’s been a different story at home and on the road. We’ve got the best away record in the league and have dominated games at Lincoln, MK Dons and Exeter. However, at home, we struggle to break teams down, whether they decide to press high or just sit in. A complete lack of atmosphere at The New Lawn means that’s it’s not an enjoyable place to watch football currently.
What do you think of Forest Green’s transfer activity over the summer?
Very good. I think we now have the best full-backs in the league in Liam Shephard and Joseph Mills. Their thrust and athleticism allow us to play in a totally different way. Lloyd James has been superb and is integral to our possession-based style, as is Carl Winchester. However, arguably our most eye-catching signing George Williams is still yet to find his feet in League Two and we still desperately need a prolific striker.
What do you think the team will be for tomorrow’s game?
Sanchez, Shephard, Rawson, Gunning, McGinley, Mills, James, Brown, Winchester, Grubb, Reid – A 3-4-3 formation although Gunning can move forward and anchor the midfield to make it a 4-3-3
Who would you say is the one player that we should look for in the Green Devils’ team?
Reece Brown. A player who Mark Cooper has said has ‘Premier League ability’. He has the ability to dictate a game and has chipped in with a few more goals and assists this season too.
What do you think would be a respectable season for yourselves and who do you think will be promoted and relegated at the end of the season?
Ill be happy as long as we’re in and around the play-off picture come May. It’s very congested from around 3rd-11th at the moment and I think it will probably stay like that until the end of the season.
MK Dons and Lincoln are bankers to go up for me. Bury and Mansfield both look rampant at the moment so I fancy either of them for the third spot, but it’s wide open as it stands. As for the play-offs, it’s often a team who goes on a 14/15 game unbeaten run towards the season’s conclusion. Even though they’re 7 points off 7th currently, I’ve had a feeling that Northampton might just sneak into the top 7 ever since they beat us back in October.
Although I think Sol Campbell will improve things at Macc I can’t see them staying up. Notts and Cambridge will probably both be boosted by managerial appointments so Yeovil are my pick for the drop.
