Swindon Town face a difficult task as they take on playoff hopefuls Southend United at the County Ground on Easter Monday.
Vital Quotes:
‘For us to start winning games we have to start defending better. From box to box we are doing fine, but in front of our own goal we are not defending properly.’
Town boss Maurice Malpas on his teams defense
Swindon Town Team News:
Swindon Town will be without Christian Roberts who is out with a season ending knee injury. Patrick kanyuka is still out with a groin injury. Lee Peacock returns from a 3 game suspension whilst Billy Paynter could start up front with Simon Cox. Town have no fresh injury worries.
Player to watch: Lee Peacock
We are not sure if Peacock will start or be on the bench however many people have said we have missed Peacock lately so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the team.
Southend United Team News:
Southend currently sit 5th in League One this season as they hope to get promotion back to The Championship. Southend drew 1-1 with League One high flyers Swansea City on Saturday. Charlie Mulgrew who is on loan from Wolves will not play due to a hamstring injury.
Player to watch: Hal Robson-Kanu
Midfielder Kanu is on loan from Premier League side Reading and has scored 3 goals in 4 games for The Shrimpers, including a goal Saturday against League leaders Swansea City.
Match Facts & Stats
Southend won the away fixture 2-1 earlier on in the season. Town took a 1-0 lead on 2 minutes thanks to a goal from Simon Cox. Adam Barrett would draw things level with his goal on 32 minutes. Town would suffer heartbreak in the final minute as Mark Gower scored the winner in injury time. Swindon Town have an all-time 53-25-40 record against Southend.
Match Prediction:
If Town are to win this game they need to show the form they did against Carlisle a week ago. At Brighton the defense did not defend free kicks and were left exposed. Southend are a very good side and it will be a tough game. We can see a 1-1 draw being a realistic result.
Next Fixtures:
Tranmere Rovers V Swindon Town Friday 28 March 2008, 7:45pm kick off at Prenton Park.
A must win game for us – many more defeats and its going to be a nervous end of season – why so begs the question with the calibre of players we have. Our standard of play is so patchy, I’m not sure MM is the right person here, but he does need time, trouble is we are heading down and down at the moment.