The televised victory over Rotherham United restored a bit of hope after a poor opening month to the season. However, the victory will mean very little is we can’t build on it (something the club has struggled to do in recent history). Town showed glimpses of quality along with those frustratingly annoying defensive frailties that seem to occur weekly. This weekend we welcome Paul Sturrock back to the County Ground as his side Southend United come to Town.
Vital Quotes:
Paolo Di Canio told the official Swindon Town website that “Saturday’s game against Southend United will be a real test for my players. We need to concentrate fully throughout the game and cut out mistakes from our play.”
Swindon Town Team News:
Alberto Comazzi misses out due to his soft/needless double booking against Rotherham United last week. Joe Devera is likely to fill the void left by the Italian.
Aden Flint is struggling so Alessandro Cibocchi waits in the wings.
Nathan Thompson is back in contention after recovering from injury while former Southend favourite Alan McCormack will hope to play a part against his former team.
Oliver Risser remains doubtful
Player to watch: Alan Connell
Connell got what he deserved against Rotherham and that was to score a brace.
Here’s hoping the former Grimsby forward can truly kick on from here on in.
Southend United Team News:
Southend are without Lee Sawyer and forward players Neil Harris, Liam Dickinson and Barry Corr.
Former Town forward Blair Sturrock should start up front while Bilel Mohsni could also start.
On-loan Swindon Town midfielder Michael Timlin is unavailable to play due to the agreement put in place by Swindon when the terms were agreed to tack Timlin back to Roots Hall.
SUFC side that drew 2-2 with Northampton
G. Morris, L. Prosser, S. Clohessy, C. Barker, M Phillips , R Leonard (M. Timlin 69′), M Bilel , A. Grant , R. Hall, K. Ferdinand, B. Sturrock (J. Johnson 80′)
Player to watch: Kane Ferdinand
Apparently he’s related to some other footballers.
It will be interesting to see what this Ferdinand is all about. Ferdinand has Republic of Ireland youth caps and has attracted attention from clubs higher up.
Match Facts & Stats
Statistically, Town have the better history in the head-to-head between the two sides.
In all competitions Town have won 55, drawn 26 and lost 42.
Between Janaury 2005 and October 2008 Town and United played eachother six times and Swindon lost every single one of them! Since then though they’ve met on three other occasions and Swindon have won 2 and drawn 1.
The last meeting was a frustrating one for Town fans as Town threw away a two goal lead in the dying minutes at Roots Hall.
A 2010 meeting saw Billy Paynter and Charlie Austin put Town 2-0 up after just 10 minutes but goals in the 85th minute from Simon Spencer and an 87th minute equaliser from Pat Baldwin gave the home side a point.
Played for both sides
Barry Corr, Miguel Comminges, Sofi Zaaboub, Craig Easton, Michael Timlin and Sean Morrison have all played under Paul Sturrock at Swindon Town and Southend United.
Others include Alex Revell, Billy Paynter, Rhys Evans, Steve Mildenhall, Bart Griemink, Martin Ling, Gary Nelson and Leon Clarke (!)
Ref Watch:
Referee:
A. Tranter/W. Bull
Match Prediction:
2-1
ANOTHER MUST WIN
Next Fixtures:
Town travel to Crawley for a midweek fixture.
