Our preview of the trip up to Bury...
Bury FC
Sky Bet League 2
Tuesday 16th September
JD Stadium, Gigg Lane,
Bury, Lancashire,
BL9 9HR
Kick-off: 19:45
Referee: Gavin Ward
Weather: It should still be warm-ish come kick-off; 17 degrees with it dropping to only 16 at the final whistle!
Ticket news…
Advance sales have now STOPPED, however you can still pay on cash turnstiles 14-19 tomorrow evening. Prices are as follows:
Adults: £15
Conc: £10
U11: £5
Team news:
After leaving the field early on Saturday due to injury, Simon Walton is out for tomorrow night's game whilst Okimo will also be out after picking up a hamstring injury last week.
Despite missing the bench at the weekend, Calvin Zola has been out training today so hopefully he'll be able to play some part. Meanwhile fellow striker, Chris Beardsley is getting closer and closer to a return to the pitch.
View from the dressing room:
GW spoke about how the team won’t go into the game with any fear on Tuesday night and how important it is that the team stick to their game plan.
“It’s not Man City we’re going to, it’s not Chelsea we’re going to. We’ve got the resources within our camp to pull ourselves together, get ourselves organised and get our game plan together. I felt that when we were on game plan (on Saturday) we started the game quite strongly and on top of the game. We lost Simon and that was a big blow because that’s a lot of league games leaving the pitch with Simon.
“Once we got organised at halftime, we went on. What we haven’t got on the field is the experience and the know-how to change the game within the game. When they’re given guidance, they’ll follow the guidance but sometimes they need a bit of problem solving to be out there with them and it’s not at the moment.
“Provided we get our game-plan right and we get them boys organised, I’m looking forward to the game Tuesday and believing that we can come back with the 3 points.”
Last time we met…
The last time the two clubs played it was one of the most disappointing performances from Boro in recent years…
Fresh off the 4-0 win over Sheffield United, Boro travelled to bottom of the table Bury looking to build some momentum and to bring the feel-good factor back to the club. However, two goals in the final eight minutes from Jones and Clarke-Harris condemned Boro to defeat and it proved to be the final straw for manager Gary Smith as he was sacked the next day.
To watch video highlights from that game plus every other Boro game since joining the Football League, head over to the Boro Player archive.
Last season…
Last season Bury were neither in danger of relegation, nor in the race for promotion as they had to settle for a season of mid-table stability in League 2. Despite high hopes at the start of the campaign, too many draws throughout the season meant that the club could never get on the sort of roll needed to make the play-offs. 20 draws throughout the season were the second most in the league, only Scunthorpe (who won promotion!) had more.
The story so far…
Early season favourites to win promotion, Bury have been fancied this year to be one of the strongest clubs in the division and with 14 points already, they seem to be on track.
Despite losing the first game of the season at home to Cheltenham, Bury have bounced back strongly by beating Hartlepool, Accrington, Plymouth and Carlisle whilst also drawing away at Luton and Wycombe.
Betting:
The bookies aren’t giving us much of a chance away at Bury, which means the opportunity to win big with Boro is on the cards!
Sky Bet, official sponsors of the league are offering a Stevenage win at 16/5, meaning a £10 bet would net you £42 back!
Boro to win 1-0 is 9/1, whilst 2-0 is a massive 20/1!
In the first goal scorer market the value lies with Charlie Lee this week – Sky Bet are offering him out at a HUGE 20/1 to score the first goal - not bad for a goal-scoring midfielder. Want less risk? He’s 6/1 to score anytime.
Not going to the game?
Listen to live match commentary on the Boro Player service where you'll also find full match highlights and full post-match interviews on Wednesday. We'll also be providing live minute-by-minute updates on our Twitter account @stevenagefc, with the key incidents reported live on our Facebook page.