Swindon Town
nPower League 1
Saturday 20th April 2013
The County Ground, County Road, Swindon, SN1 2ED
Kick Off: 3pm
Weather Forecast: Sunny intervals, 12°c
Referee: G Sutton (Lincolnshire)
Stevenage’s penultimate game of the season sees them travel to The County Ground, the scene of one of their greatest FA Cup victories, to take on high-flying Swindon Town.
Last time we met:
Swindon Town were in devastating form back in October as Stevenage endured their largest ever Football League defeat. Raffaele De Vita lashed in a knock down from Matt Ritchie, who then doubled the lead with a shot that eluded Stevenage keeper Steve Arnold. Arnold was able to save Tommy Miller's penalty after Alan McCormack was brought down by Anthony Grant. But Miles Storey struck with a header moments later and Adam Rooney finished the rout in the second half. Paolo Di Canio’s side looked impressive as they ended a three-game winless run and drew level on points with sixth-placed Notts County in League One. It was only a second loss out of six for Boro and their first home league defeat since January, but they dropped out of the automatic promotion spots down to third.
Boro: Arnold, Gray, N’Gala, Roberts, Charles, Morais (Lopez), Grant, Risser (Akins), Tansey, Freeman, Haber (Agyemang)
Subs not used: Day, Hills, Shroot, Rogers
Team News:
Swindon should keep faith with the same XI that blew Crewe away with an impressive performance in the opening 25 minutes on Tuesday night. Nathan Thompson, Troy Archibald-Henville, Miles Storey, Jay McEveley, Aaron Oakley and Louis Thompson are all out injured.
Stevenage are likely to name a similar side to that which started the 2-0 home defeat to Yeovil last weekend. Marcus Haber, Sam Hoskins and Lee Hills could come into contention after sub appearances in that game, should Graham Westley opt for changes.
The Swindon Town Scout Report
Recent Form:
Swindon Town currently sit 6th in League One and require just three points to secure themselves a playoff place just 12 months after winning the League Two title.
However their form has been anything but convincing in the past few weeks with just one win in their last six games, that being a 4-1 win on Tuesday against Crewe. Prior to this they had picked up points with consecutive draws against Notts County (0-0) and Oldham (1-1) whilst losing three on the bounce against Doncaster (0-1), MK Dons (0-2) and Sheffield United (0-2).
The Robins have recorded nine wins, nine draws and just four defeats from 22 games at the County Ground, during which time they’ve scored 41 times and conceded just 15. This has contributed to Swindon having the best goal difference in the division (+32), 11 more than the next best team.
Possible Swindon Town line-up for Saturday (4-4-2 formation):
Wes Foderingham; Aden Flint, Nathan Byrne, Darren Ward, Joe Devera ; Massimo Luongo, Simon Ferry, Alan McCormack, Gary Roberts; James Collins, Andy Williams
Subs from: Luke Rooney, Mark Francis, Connor Waldon, Leigh Bedwell, Matthew Jones, Raffaele De Vita, Adam Rooney
Key Man:
James Collins tops the goal scoring charts at Swindon with 17 goals in all competitions, including 14 in League 1 and a hat-trick at Stoke in the Capital One Cup. The 22-year old notched 16 in 47 goals for Shrewsbury last season before signing for Swindon in the summer in an initial £140,000 deal. The former Aston Villa trainee took his time to break his duck in the league, scoring his first goal in early October, but he has since gone on to score a further 13 times including four against Portsmouth in a 5-0 home win on New Year’s Day and one in Tuesday night’s 4-1 win over Crewe.