On Tuesday night Swindon Town welcome Gary Ablett’s Stockport County side to Wiltshire. The Hatters finally ended their winless streak last weekend at Exeter City and will be desperate to continue their run. Meanwhile, Danny Wilson will be trying equally to continue his sides fine run of form
Vital Quotes:
Writing in his official site blog Gordon Greer commented that this fixture …
…'[the previous encounter] was a tough game and I expect [tomorrrows fixture] will be as well because, even though they’re bottom by quite a way, their results have started to pick up since they brought in a few good players on loan’ from MK Dons especially.’
SWINDON TOWN Team News:
Town skipper Gordon Greer is struggling so Sean Morrison could be in line for his first start since September.
Alan O’Brien continues his quest for full fitness while Kurt Hammonds is out.
David Lucas, Alan Sheehan, Gordon Greer (Sean Morrison 81′), Scott Cuthbert, Kevin Amankwaah, Danny Ward, Simon Ferry (Craig Easton 56′), Jonathan Douglas, Jon-Paul McGovern Billy Paynter (Vincent Paul Péricard 69′), Charlie Austin.
SNU: Michael Timlin, Matt Ritchie, Lescinel Jean-François, Phil Smith.
Player to watch: PAYNTER & AUSTIN
The Town forwards have been lethal in front of goal this year. Town have a decent defence, a strong midfield but neither contribute enough in the goals department. Gary Ablett will be very keen to prevent these two from scoring.
STOCKPORT COUNTY Team News:
Gianluca Havern and Matty Mainwaring are out injured.
Gary Ablett is expected to select the same side that beat fellow League One strugglers Exeter City 1-0 last Saturday.
Side that played against Exeter City
Stockport: Owain Fôn Williams, Mat Sadler, John Mullins, Paul Huntington, Danny Swailes, Jemal Johnson (Adam Griffin 87”), Greg Tansey, David Perkins, Ritchie Partridge, Jabo Ibehre, George Donnelly (David Poole 73′).
SNU: Paul Gerrard, Paul Turnbull, James Vincent, Danny Pilkington, Sam Barnes.
Player to watch: JEMAL JOHNSON
American born forward started his football education with Manchester United before switching to Blackburn Rovers in 2001. While with Rovers he spent time out on loan with Preston North End and Darlington before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee.
His Wolves career started well with 2 goals in 2 games which created a brief buzz around the forward but this disappeared as he scored only once more that season which also included a loan spell with Leeds United.
In 2007, another undisclosed fee took Johnson to Milton Keynes Dons.
He scored 11 in 89 league outings for the Dons before moving to Stockport on loan in January.
Match Facts & Stats
Historically, Town have the edge over Stockport County.
W: 15
D: 7
L: 11
Last Fixture
The two sides last met on January 19th at Edgeley Park. The Hatters were in a dire situation but had clinched the signings of MK Dons quartet Jemal Johnson, Ritchie Partridge, Danny Swailes and Jabo Ibehre along with Colchester midfielder David Perkins.
The five signings made a reasonable impact but it wasn’t enough on the day as Town scraped through thanks to a 73rd minute penalty by Billy Paynter.
19/01/10: Stockport County 0-1 Swindon Town
SCFC: Owain Fôn Williams, Johnny Mullins, Michael Rose, Michael Raynes, Danny Swailes, Ritchie Partridge, James Vincent, Danny Pilkington (Greg Tansey 82”), David Perkins, Jabo Ibehre, Jemal Johnson.
SNU: Paul Turnbull, Andy Halls, Declan Edwards, Daniel Rowe, Sam Barnes, Paul Gerrard.
STFC: David Lucas, Lescinel Jean-François, Gordon Greer, Scott Cuthbert, Kevin Amankwaah, Danny Ward, Simon Ferry, Jonathan Douglas, Jon-Paul McGovern, Billy Paynter, Charlie Austin.
SNU: Craig Easton, Ben Hutchinson, Michael Timlin, Sean Morrison, Lloyd Macklin, Mark Marshall, Phil Smith.
Other Recent Meetings
13/01/09: STFC 1-1 SCFC
20/09/08: SCFC 1-1 STFC
03/03/07: SCFC 3-0 STFC
26/08/06: STFC 2-0 SCFC
29/01/05: STFC 3-0 SCFC
02/10/04: SCFC 3-3 SCFC
Played for Both Clubs:
Mike Summerbee, Keith East, Mark Robertson, Andy Mutch…
Ref Watch:
REFEREE: R. EAST
Mr. East officiated over Swindon Town’s penalty shoot-out victory Exeter City in the JP Trophy back in October.
This Seasons Stats
25 Games
74 Yellow Cards
03 Red Card
David Valentine (Hereford United), Barry Corr (Exeter City), Jabo Ibehre (Southend United)
WINGMAN #1: S.J. Martin
WINGMAN #2: A.E. Fearn
UNDERSTUDY: M. Russell
Match Prediction:
A must win. We’ve had a great season but we have to keep the pressure on the teams about while making sure we increase the gap between us and the other Play-Off contenders.
Town have an incredibly tough month ahead so we have to get results against the struggling clubs. County will be high in confidence after beating Exeter.
Swindon Town 2-1 Stockport County
Next Fixtures: Orient
Town travel to London to play Orient this coming Saturday.
