This afternoon sees another long trip to the South West with a trip to Swindon Town’s County Ground looking for a league double after winning 1-0 in South Cheshire thanks to Charlie Kirk’s goal.
So far this season they have 15 wins, 16 draws and 12 losses as they sit 12th in the league. They have beaten Macclesfield Town twice, Tranmere Rovers twice, Morecambe twice, Yeovil Town, Notts County, Port Vale, Stevenage, Newport County, MK Dons, Forest Green Rovers, Colchester United and Bury, they’ve drawn against Crawley Town, Forest Green, MK Dons, Oldham Athletic twice, Northampton Town twice, Mansfield Town twice, Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City, Grimsby Town, Port Vale, Yeovil, Newport and Cambridge United whilst their defeats have against Lincoln, Bury, us, Exeter City twice, Cambridge, Colchester, Carlisle United twice, Grimsby, Crawley and Stevenage.
In the cup competitions, they were knocked out in Round 2 of the FA Cup by Woking after defeating York City in Round 1 while in the EFL Cup they lost 1-0 to Forest Green In the EFL Trophy, they finished 3rd in their group that also Chelsea Under-21s, Newport and Plymouth Argyle.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met 37 times with Swindon leading the head-to-head with 18 wins to 13 with 6 draws. Crewe’s biggest win came in a 3-1 victory at the County Ground in December 2012 while Town’s biggest win came at the same ground in August 2013 where they won 5-0. Last season saw 2 wins for Swindon, a 3-0 victory at the Alexandra Stadium in December was followed by a 4-3 defeat for the Alex away a month later.
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Lee Collins as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Kevin Morris and Steven Rushton with Darren Wilding being the fourth official. During the last 5 seasons, the following Crewe games have been refereed by Collins:
- Swindon Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra (23rd August 2014)
- Swindon Town 4-3 Crewe Alexandra (16th January 2016) – Inman (2), Colclough
- Peterborough United 3-0 Crewe Alexandra (2nd April 2016)
- Cambridge United 2-1 Crewe Alexandra (17th December 2016) – Jones
- Crawley Town 3-0 Crewe Alexandra (24th November 2018)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-2 Northampton (2nd March 2019)
I asked Swindon Town supporter Steven Fyfe for his thoughts going into the game.
How would you describe your season since our last meeting?
Our season is a mix of frustration coupled with the one that got away. We have been better since Wellens has implemented his ideas but never good enough consistently to get promoted.
Despite that we have had a chance of top 7 for weeks, failing to capitalise on every slip up our rivals have made.
What do you think the team will be for today’s game?
I wouldn’t expect too many changes. We are fairly settled in a 4-3-3 formation.
McCormick
Knoyle Woolfenden Conroy Koiki/Taylor
Bennett Rose Doughty/Dunne
Woolery Anderson House/Robinson
Is Alzate still the danger man or is there someone else that we should look out for?
Alzate is, sadly, no longer with us. A real shame as he would have thrived under Wellens. Bennett, Wollery and Anderson are the dangers in my opinion while Conroy at the back is a touch of class.
What positions do you feel you need to strengthen ahead of next season?
We need a goalscorer. Robinson is not consistent enough, unfortunately. We are fairly good at the back, our current run proves we are tough to beat, but, cannot put teams away. Looking at our squad compared to the last decade or so, if this team had a Simon Cox, Charlie Austin, Sam Parkin, dare I say Nicky Ajose (from the first two times he was with us) we would be top 3, never mind top 7.
