Our preview of this Saturday’s home clash with Crawley.
Crawley Town
Sky Bet League One
Saturday 26th October
The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage, SG2 8RH
Kick-off: 3pm
Weather: 14°c, Sunny intervals
Referee: Richard Clark (Essex)
After the fantastic victory at Crewe on Tuesday, Boro look to continue their good run of form against Crawley Town and earn their fourth win in five games. Don't forget all U16s go free for this match with our Halloween Special ticket offer (follow link for all the details and conditions).
Last time we met:
Stevenage battled for more than an hour with 10 men as they held on to a draw at play-off chasing Crawley. Miguel Comminges collected two bookings in the first 26 minutes to make it an uphill battle for the visitors. But they took the lead when caretaker player-manager Mark Roberts headed them ahead from Luke Freeman's free-kick. Crawley levelled as Matt Sparrow fired into the bottom corner and could have won it but for an inspired performance from Steve Arnold.
Boro: Arnold, Gray, Roberts, N’Gala, Comminges, Dunne, Ehmer, Shroot (Grant), Akins (Morais), Freeman, Haber
Subs not used: Day, Iro, Chorley, Lopez, Beleck
Team news:
For Stevenage, David Gray is available for selection again after serving his suspension in the win over Crewe. Darius Charles and Ben Chorley are still out with long-term injuries.
Crawley top scorer Billy Clarke missed Tuesday night’s defeat to Port Vale but is close to a return and Richie Baker is hopeful he will be in the squad on Saturday. Kyle McFazdean has been out with a virus but is also likely to be involved.
The Crawley Scout Report
Recent form:
Crawley have had an impressive start to the season which currently sees them sit just outside the play-off places. Their most eye-catching result of the season so far came at London Road as the Reds beat Peterborough 2-0. The result sparked a seven game streak without losing before they came crashing down to earth on Tuesday night. Despite being heavily favoured at home, Crawley lost 3-0 to Port Vale despite having 17 shots on goal.
Familiar faces:
There’s two familiar faces in the Crawley squad for Boro fans, Dannie Bulman and former fans favourite, Andy Drury. After a successful loan spell in 2006, Bulman joined Crawley permanently the following year. In 2009 he moved to Oxford United before another lone spell at the Reds paved the way for another permanent deal in 2011.
Andy Drury was a key figure in Boro’s Conference winning season but moved to Luton the following summer. After one season in Bedfordshire, Drury moved to Ipswich where he stayed for two seasons before joining Crawley this summer.
Both Darius Charles and Michael Doughty have spent time on loan at Crawley - Charles whilst at Brentford in 2007 and Doughty in 2011 whilst with QPR.
Key Man:
Billy Clarke has five goals to his name so far this season and remains one of Crawley’s key players. The 25-year old striker was a product of the Ipswich youth system, making 49 appearances over four years at Portman Road whilst also having loan spells at Colchester, Falkirk, Darlington, Northampton and Brentford. After leaving Ipswich Clarke joined Blackpool but was hit by injury and only played 27 times in three years. He joined Crawley in January 2012 for an undisclosed fee and has been in fine form ever since, scoring 21 times, including 14 last season as he finished top scorer. He’s been missing for the past few games with an injury but is likely to return on Saturday.