Crawley Town
nPower League 1
Friday 29th March 2013
Broadfield Stadium, Winfield Way, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 9RX
Kick Off: 3pm
Weather Forecast: Cloudy, 0°c
Referee: B Malone (Wiltshire)
Last time we met:
Crawley scored twice in four second-half minutes to come from behind and beat Boro at The Lamex in mid-December. Robin Shroot, fresh from signing a new contract extension, put the home side ahead when he latched on to David Gray's centre. Hope Akpan tucked home on the rebound to make it 1-1, while Dannie Bulman's 69th-minute long-range strike won it for Crawley.
Boro: Arnold, Gray, Roberts, N’Gala, Comminges (Charles), Shroot, Tansey, Dunne, Hills (Freeman), Haber (Agyemang), Akins
Subs not used: Horlock, Ball, Risser, Rogers
Team News:
Crawley have no new injury concerns and are likely to name a similar side to that which beat Crewe 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Stevenage welcome back Marcus Haber from international duty but Gavin Mahon, and Lee Hills are doubts after recent injuries. New signings Alex Smith, Max Ehmer and Roarie Deacon could also feature.
The Crawley Town Scout Report
Recent Form:
Crawley come into this game in 12th position in League 1 with 56 points after winning 15, drawing 11 and losing 12 of their 38 games, during which they’ve both scored and conceded 50 times.
Ritchie Barker’s men are unbeaten in their last six having picked up wins against Crewe (2-0) and Bury (2-0) and draws against Carlisle (1-1), Notts County (0-0), Yeovil (2-2) and Walsall (2-2).
The Red Devils have picked up exactly the same number of points at home as they have on their travels so far (28) but their form at the Broadfield Stadium hasn’t been fantastic of late. In fact Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Crewe was their first three points won at home since the 1st January when they beat Colchester 3-0. Overall their home form has seen seven wins, seven draws and five defeats this season.
Possible Crawley line-up for Friday (4-4-2 formation):
Paul Jones; Mustapha Dumbuya, Mark Connolly, Joe Walsh, Mat Sadler; Billy Clarke, Matthew Sparrow, Dannie Bulman, Nicky Adams; Paul Hayes, Jamie Proctor
Subs: Johnny Maddison, Connor Essam, Sergio Torres, Josh Simpson, David Hunt, Lateef Elford-Alliyu, Mike Jones
Key Man:
Midfielder Nicky Adams is proving a creative and goalscoring force for Crawley this season, impressing many with his midfield displays and finding the back of the net on 11 occasions. The 26-year old Welshman came through the youth ranks at Bury and marked his debut against Darlington in 2005 with a goal. After impressing regularly at Gigg Lane he joined Leicester City in 2008 but failed to secure a regular first team place during his two years at The King Power Stadium, moving to Brentford for a short time in 2010. A 60 game spell at Rochdale saw him return to form and he joined newly promoted Crawley last summer where he has been in equally inspiring form as the Red Devils look to impress in their first League 1 season.
Stat Attack:
• The referee for this game will be Brendan Malone from Wiltshire. The last Stevenage match he took charge of was Boro’s 1-0 win over Carlisle last April.
• James Dunne will make his 40th appearance for Boro at Crawley. Greg Tansey could make his 30th start and a second consecutive start for Robin Shroot will be his 10th start overall this season.
• A goal for Mark Roberts will be the skipper’s 25th for the club since joining in 2008.