Notts County v Tranmere Rovers Match Preview

Tranmere Rovers face Notts County this weekend in nPower League One, in what could turn out to be a hugely important game in the relegation battle come the end of the season.

County, now managed by Paul Ince, are three points and one place below Tranmere in the League Table, and coule move above Rovers this weekend should they beat Tranmere by the required amount, but at the same time, twentieth placed Rovers could move up to twelfth in the table, should results go their way, such is the closeness of the table.

Les Parry will therefore be hoping that his Tranmere side can pick up some vital points in this weekends fixture as they look to make it four wins out of five games in the league.

Notts County Factfile:

Ground: Meadow Lane
Formed: 1862
Nickname:  The Magpies
Manager:  Paul Ince
League Finish 2009/10: 1st (League Two)
Kit Colours: Black and white striped shirt, black shorts and socks (home), All yellow shirt, shorts and socks (away)

Previous Meetings:

Tranmere and Notts County haven't met since the 2003/04 season, a year which saw County relegated to League Two after a dismal and disappointing campaign. 

They hadn't previously been able to record a promotion back to League One until last season, when, backed by millions of pounds from investors abroad, the club were able to spend big and bring in some big name players to help them to win the League Two title.

When the two sides did meet in that season, Rovers managed to take four points from the Magpies, as Ray Mathias' side earnt a battling draw at Meadow Lane before Tranmere thrashed Notts County at Prenton Park, with Brian Little now in charge.

The game at Meadow Lane saw two goals in the opening ten minutes for each side, with Mark Stallard firstly giving County the lead after four minutes before Simon Haworth equalised just three minutes later for Tranmere.

The tall striker then gave Tranmere the lead shortly after half time, netting his third goal of the season, before the hosts levelled the game to a earn a point thanks to a 71st minute strike from Clive Platt.

At Prenton Park in late March, it was a different story as Tranmere handed out a drubbing to their opponents thanks to a 4-0 drubbing.

Tranmere again netted after seven minutes, with Eugene Dadi scoring an excellent volley from Paul Hall's cross to give Tranmere the lead, before he doubled Rovers' lead eight minutes later with a penalty, his sixteenth goal of the season.

Iain Hume made it 3-0 to Tranmere after the hour mark, volleying home from the edge of the area, before heading home from David Beresford's cross twelve minutes later to complete the rout.

Vital Stats:

In seventeen previous trips to Meadow Lane, Tranmere have picked up just four wins, losing on eight occasions

Rovers have netted fifteen times in their trips to Notts County, with the Magpies scoring on 27 occasions

Tranmere are unbeaten in their last four games against County, including one win and a draw in two games at Meadow Lane

Tranmere have only failed to score in one of their last seven league games against the Magpies

There have only been three away wins in the last seventeen fixtures between these two sides (excluding 1989/90 play-off final)

On This Day:

2004:  Ian Goodison scores his first Tranmere goal as Rovers beat Blackpool 1-0 at Bloomfield Road

2001:  Tranmere are hammered 4-1 by Reading during their first season back in Division Two

1999:  Second half goals from Clint Hill, Wayne Allison and David Kelly help Tranmere to a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in Division One

Tranmere have played thirteen previous games on this day, picking up seven wins to go with three draws and three defeats.  In these thirteen games, they have scored 33 goals and conceded 21.

They have played six away games on this day, picking up and impressive three wins, whilst they have won four of their last six games played on November 20th.

The Form Book:

Notts County last six home games:  WLWLWW
Tranmere Rovers last six away games:  WLLWLW

After promotion in the summer, Notts County have struggled to adjust to life in League One and have already disposed of one manager, with former Blackburn player Craig Short replaced by Paul Ince early this month.

The Magpies come into this game on a wretched run of form away from home, having won just one of their last nine, but at home they have been in decent form and have won three of their last six.

County started their six match sequence with successive wins, firstly beating Yeovil Town 4-0 before beating Leyton Orient 3-2 after twice leading and being pulled level by the O's.

A 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday followed these two wins, but they got back to winning ways in their next home game, as Westcarr and Spicer scored in a 2-0 win over Plymouth.

Their inconsistency at home continued in their next game however, as Southampton beat the Magpies 3-1, before in their most recent home game, County beat Non-League Gateshead 2-0 in the F.A. Cup first round.

County have played only two other home games this season, picking up a victory over Dagenham and Redbridge (1-0) and losing 3-0 to Huddersfield Town.

All this considered, Paul Ince's side come into this game having played seven home league games this season and picked up twelve of an available 21 points, thanks to four wins and three defeats.

Notable results on the road for the Magpies this season including a soul league win over Peterborough (3-2) and cup wins over Plymouth (1-0) and Watford (2-1).

Notts County therefore come into this game in 21st place in League One, having played fifteen games and picked up sixteen of an available 45 points, this thanks to five wins, one draw and nine defeats.

Tranmere Rovers have been in decent form on the road so far this season, picking up four wins to date, already just one fewer than the amount of victories they picked up away from Prenton Park last season.

Rovers started their six match sequence with their first away league win of the season as a stunning strike from Dale Jennings secured Rovers a 1-0 win over Bristol Rovers, but next time out, Tranmere returned to losing ways on the road, suffering a 2-0 loss at St. Marys against Southampton.

However, Tranmere picked up their second away win in three matches in their next away fixture,  as two strikes from John Welsh helped Tranmere secure their second win of the campaign against Walsall, with Rovers beating the Saddlers 4-1 at The Bescott Stadium.

Tranmere however then suffered successive defeats away from home, firstly losing 2-0 against Carlisle, with Ian Thomas-Moore missing an early penalty in the match, before they suffered a 5-3 defeat to Bournemouth, this after being 3-0 down within seven minutes.

Then, in their most recent away game, a goal from Ian Thomas-Moore was enough to secure Tranmere a place in the Johnstone Paints Trophy area semi-final as Rovers beat Bury 1-0 at Gigg Lane.

Other notable results on the road for Tranmere this season include a 1-0 defeat of Walsall  in the League Cup first round thanks to a goal from Ian Goodison and draws with Huddersfield Town (0-0) and Dagenham and Redbridge (2-2).

So far this season Tranmere have played eight away league games and picked up eight of an available 24 points, thanks to two win, two draws and four defeats, whilst they have won three, lost five and lost two of their ten away games in all competitions.

Notable results at home for Tranmere include a wins over Peterborough  (1-0), Plymouth Argyle (1-0) and MK Dons (4-2).

Tranmere Rovers have played four cup games this season ahead of this match, picking up one win, two draws and one defeat.

Les Parry's side currently lie in 20th place in League One, having picked up 19 of an available 48 points from 16 games, this thanks to five wins, four draws and seven defeats.

Double Hit:

Former Livingstone striker Eugene Dadi had a brief spell at Notts County shortly after leaving Tranmere Rovers.

The Ivorian striker started his career in France, playing for a whole host of clubs including Toulouse, before moving to Britain in August 2001, joining Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen.

Eleven months at Aberdeen saw Dadi struggle to make his mark on the club, as he netted just five times in 33 games for the club.

He soon moved on to Livingstone, but was equally unsuccessful, scoring just four times in 27 games, and after one season with the Lions, he left Scottish football, signing for Tranmere after impressing Ray Mathias whilst on trial at the club.

At Tranmere, Dadi became an instant success.  His brilliant attitude towards the fans, as well as his good goalscoring ability, ensured that he warmed himself to the Prenton Park faithful, helping Tranmere to an F.A. Cup Quarter Final during his time on the Wirral.

In just over two seasons on the Wirral, Dadi scored 28 goals for the club, this from 86 games, before leaving Tranmere for Nottingham Forest in August 2005.

However, with The Tricky Trees, Dadi was hugely unsuccessful, and he was quickly sent out on loan to Notts County, making eleven appearances for the club and scoring twice, before returning to Forest and being released having managed only six appearances for the club, five of them as a substitute, in his one season with the club.

After being released by Forest, Dadi spent time in Israel before moving to Perth Glory in 2008.  Whilst at Perth, he spent time in the off-season on loan at Swiss side FC Vaduz, and it was during this period that he came back to Tranmere, playing in John Achterberg's testimonial match at Prenton Park.

In 2010, Dadi left Perth Glory having scored ten times in 22 games for the club, joining up with former Tranmere striker Chris Greenacre at Wellington Pheonix and scoring five times in ten games for the club before being released.

After being linked with a move back to Tranmere this summer, he eventually moved to Indonesian team Persibo where he has scored eleven times in four games.

One To Watch:

Notts County striker Craig Westcarr actually came through the youth ranks at Nottingham Forest, County's bitter rivals, but he is quickly making himself a favoured character at Meadow Lane, despite his Forest links.

Westcarr played 26 times for Forest between 2001 and 2005 after coming through the clubs academy, but the striker netted just once in that period and in 2005 he was released, joining Non League side Cambridge United after unsuccessful loan spells with Lincoln and MK Dons.

With Cambridge, Westcarr's form began to improve and after scoring eight times in 34 games in his one season with the club, he moved on to Kettering Town.

Three years at Kettering saw Westcarr flit between and winger and a striker, and as such his goal tally suffered, but he still managed to score 23 goals in 102 games for the club, finishing top scorer during the 2007-08 season. 

A move to Stevenage in 2008 came about for Westcarr, but this bizarre turn saw the player leave the club in pre-season without playing a game, returning to Kettering and scoring twice for the club in the FA Cup fourth round against Fulham before being released at the end of the 2008/09 season.

Despite his release by Kettering however, Notts County saw potential in the player and picked him up on a free transfer.

Since returning to the Football League, Westcarr has not looked back, and has already got seven goals to his total this season, adding to the eleven he scored last campaign.

Aged 25, the Nottingham born striker is coming into the prime age for his career and is still developing as a player. 

Available to play as both a winger or striker, Westcarr has been a constant threat for County this season and is currently the clubs top scorer.

He is pacey and is good at providing chances from outside the box on the wing, and is a capable finisher when he has the ball inside the box.  He wears the number 20 shirt for the Magpies.

Around League One:

There is a full round of games in nPower League One this weekend, with all 24 teams kicking off in twelve fixtures at 3:00pm on Saturday afternoon.

Brighton vs. Bristol Rovers
Charlton vs. Yeovil
Colchester vs. Hartlepool
Dagenham and Redbridge vs. Oldham
Huddersfield vs. Exeter
Leyton Orient vs. Bournemouth
MK Dons vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Notts County vs. Tranmere
Plymouth vs. Brentford
Rochdale vs. Swindon
Southampton vs. Peterborough
Walsall vs. Carlisle

Team News:

Jones' Prediction:  Notts County 0-2 Tranmere Rovers

Tranmere's form of late has been good, mainly thanks to the huge boost Dale Jennings has given to the side, and I'm confident that Rovers can continue such form this weekend against Paul Ince's side.

Jennings is obviously the key outlet for Rovers, with his devistating pace a key asset to Tranmere as they look at attack quickly down the left hand side.

Tranmere though will need to be carefull in defence too.  The Magpies have several threatening players upfront, including Luke Rodgers and Lee Hughes, in addition to Key Man Craig Westcarr, who Tranmere will need to mark closely.

It's therefore important that Rovers cover well through their midfielders and break down as many attacks as they can before they get dangerous, as well as looking to take the game to their hosts, attempting to create chances and put the pressure on the home side.

Don't forget, if you can't get to the game, you can keep up to date with the match by following our live updates on our Twitter page, www.twitter.com/totaltranmere