The Saddlers can climb into the top two tonight...
WALSALL VS. SWINDON
Banks’s Stadium
Tuesday, 19th April 2016 (Kick-off 7.45pm)
Sky Bet League One
Banks’s Stadium
Tuesday, 19th April 2016 (Kick-off 7.45pm)
Sky Bet League One
OVERVIEW:
Walsall will climb into the automatic promotion places if they beat Swindon and second-placed Burton lose to leaders Wigan. The Saddlers have won five of their seven matches under head coach Jon Whitney and are targeting a third straight victory. Luke Williams’ out-of-form Robins are 16th in League One, six points above the relegation zone, and have lost five of their last six games, including their last three away.
LEAGUE STANDINGS:
Walsall: 3rd – P41 W21 D11 L9 F60 A42 PTS74
Swindon: 16th – P42 W14 D9 L19 F57 A68 PTS51
LAST FIVE LEAGUE MATCHES: (Most recent match first)
Walsall: WWLLW
Swindon: LLLDL
LAST TIME OUT:
16th April – Walsall 1-0 Southend – League One
Jordy Hiwula scored an 88th-minute winner as Walsall moved to within three points of the automatic promotion places with victory over Southend.
Team:Etheridge, Demetriou, Downing, Pennington, Henry, Chambers, Mantom (Cook 80’), Forde, Lalkovic (Morris 74’), Sawyers, Hiwula.
Subs not used: MacGillivray, Taylor, O’Connor, Preston, Kinsella.
16th April – Swindon 0-1 Bury – League One
Danny Mayor’s second-half header earned Bury all three points at Swindon. Jonathan Obika went closest for the hosts when his curling 20-yard shot struck the bar.
Team: Kean, Branco, Thompson, Turnbull, Barry, Iandolo (Kasim 61’), Doughty, Thompson, Brophy, Obika, Ajose.
Subs not used: Robert, Sendles-White, Marshall, Cooke, Hylton, Henry.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Walsall wins: 32
Swindon wins: 34
Draws: 28
LAST MEETING:
24th November 2015 – Swindon 2-1 Walsall – League One
Walsall’s unbeaten away record in League One came to an end after Louis Thompson’s last-gasp strike earned struggling Swindon a dramatic win. Jonathan Obika’s 17th-minute header put the Robins in front, before Tom Bradshaw equalised with a low 20-yard strike just past the hour mark. The Saddlers’ Jordan Cook had a goal disallowed, but Swindon snatched victory at the death when Norwich loanee Thompson drilled home.
SWINDON HEAD COACH:
Luke Williams – The 35-year-old was appointed Swindon head coach in March 2016 after winning six of his ten games as caretaker boss. He is the fourth person to take charge of the Robins this season, following Mark Cooper, Martin Ling and chairman Lee Power. Formerly first-team coach at the County Ground, Williams managed Brighton’s Under-21 side from 2010 to 2013.
SWINDON STAR MAN:
Nicky Ajose – The former Manchester United youth player is League One’s 22-goal top scorer. The 24-year-old signed from Leeds in September 2015 and has also played for Crewe, Peterborough and Bury, where he won promotion from League Two in 2010/11. On Sunday, Ajose was named in the 2015/16 Football Manager Team of the Season. He was also nominated for League One Player of the Year, but missed out to Gillingham’s Bradley Dack.
VIEW FROM THE SWINDON CAMP:
Luke Williams (on Swindon’s defeat to Bury) – “We played a bit nervous today and didn’t come alive until we conceded. I felt we left it a bit too late and it looked like we were getting closer and closer but there are fine margins in football and we weren’t able to get that equaliser.”
WALSALL TEAM NEWS:
Striker Tom Bradshaw (groin) could return. Midfielder Reece Flanagan is out until around Christmas after rupturing his ACL. Isaiah Osbourne (knee) is a long-term absentee.
REFEREE:
Nicholas Kinseley.
STAT OF THE DAY:
We have failed to score in only eight of our 41 league matches this season - the joint-best record in League One, along with Gillingham and Peterborough.
TUESDAY’S LEAGUE ONE FIXTURES: (7.45pm unless stated)
Barnsley vs. Peterborough
Burton vs. Wigan
Chesterfield vs. Doncaster
Coventry vs. Bradford
Crewe vs. Colchester
Millwall vs. Fleetwood
Rochdale vs. Gillingham
Scunthorpe vs. Bury
Shrewsbury vs. Sheff Utd
Southend vs. Oldham