Match Preview: Tranmere Rovers v Cheltenham Town

As Tranmere prepare to host Cheltenham on Saturday afternoon, Louise Formston returns with her match preview ahead of the game.....

Football returns to Prenton Park this weekend as Tranmere Rovers welcome top of the table Cheltenham Town.  Rovers will be hoping to put another three points on the board in their quest to cement a play off place whilst Cheltenham will be aiming to put yet more space between themselves and second placed Forest Green Rovers.  Both teams know how important getting their Football League status back is to their clubs and the former relegation rivals are sure to put on a good game.

Previous Game:

Rovers took a trip down south earlier in the season and came home with all three points thanks to a last minute Andy Mangan goal.  That 1-0 defeat was the last time Cheltenham lost a game.  Since then The Robins have won 15 games and drawn a further five, equalling a club record of 20 games unbeaten. As the last club to beat Cheltenham, can Tranmere bring an end to their incredible run?  As a side note, Lee Vaughan featured for Cheltenham during that game – here’s hoping he’s on the winning side this time around.

Form Guide:

There’s no denying Cheltenham’s form has been impressive so far this season.  Even before their loss against us in September, Cheltenham had only lost one game – Altrincham away.  Following their defeat at the hands of Rovers, Cheltenham have recorded some decent results; they went straight onto beat Halifax 7-1 before putting five past Guiseley and another four against Southport.  Rovers meanwhile are five games unbeaten, and taking out the loss against Macclesfield at New Year, Rovers haven’t lost since Woking beat them 4-1 in the middle of November.

Injuries and Suspensions:

Steve Jennings remains suspended for Rovers after he racked up ten yellow cards already this season, whilst the game comes too soon for Liam Hogan. Cheltenham will be without Harry Pell after he damaged his ankle against Woking two weeks ago.

The Cheltenham Squad:

Top scorer Danny Wright has to be one to keep an eye on this weekend.  The 31 year old has 17 goals so far and is showing no sign of stopping with his latest coming last Saturday against Kidderminster.  Similarly, 21-year-old Billy Waters has added his own fair share of goals this season, with his tally standing at 11 – the same our very own James Norwood has scored for us.  Dan Holman only joined The Robins at the end of January but has already got four goals in five games, his last being against Kidderminster last weekend.

My Team: 

I didn’t make the trip to Aldershot last weekend – I chose to spend the weekend in Edinburgh instead and by all accounts I made the right decision. Apparently the team struggled in the 4-3-3 formation, so whilst we all moan about playing one up front at home we can’t deny that it has produced results of late, even if the football has been dire to watch.  My team would look something like this:

Davies and the back four of Vaughan, McNulty, Ihiekwe and Ridehalgh have performed well of late and there’s no reason to change it.  Midfield is where it gets tricky, Jennings has improved vastly in recent games and I honestly think we might miss him. Harris and Hughes might be our answer for midfield as allegedly Hughes can play central midfield.

On the wings Mekki and Kirby; Mekki has been absolute revelation this season and it’s no secret that I’ve been his number one fan since he played pre-season.  Kirby out there as well mostly because he scored a wonder goal the other week and I’m struggled to recall players who can play on the wing for us.

Upfront Norwood and Taylor-Fletcher each with the freedom to do what they like, swapping in and out with Mekki and Kirby depending what’s needed and who needs to be running into the box when.  I think Cheltenham are going to score, our defence is good but their attack is better so we need to be brave up front and have everyone getting in the box when we can and taking the game to them.

Score prediction?  Anything that isn’t 4-0 to Cheltenham to be honest.

I think this game has been slightly overshadowed by the ticket fiasco that Chester away has caused but really it’s a true test of our promotion credentials. On that note though; if anyone has a ticket they don’t want for whatever reason for Chester I’m in search of one for a friend!  I don’t think it’s fair to make him sit in the home end on one of his first away days with the SWA!