Tranmere Rovers
League One Preview: 14th December
By Henry Hudson
December 14 2013
As the twenty four teams in Sky Bet League One all prepare for another round of matches on Saturday afternoon, Henry Hudson brings us a look ahead to the weekend's action in the best League of them all........
Some label it the greatest league in the world. The most talented footballers to ever grace a football field play in it every week and the teams within are idolised across the world. Even non-football fans recognise the badges of clubs in this league whenever they appear and the merchandise of these clubs generates millions of pounds every single day. Two divisions below this league is League One. Not as stylish as the Barclaycard English Premiership perhaps but the likes of Crawley and Stevenage carry their own kind of glamour. On Saturday, all twenty-four third tier teams will be taking to the pitch a week after many were in FA Cup action the previous Saturday.
Losing by a five-goal margin is an unpleasant experience, particularly to the same team you lost to by the same score earlier this season. However, Ronnie Moore’s side will have to at least try and forget that dreadful afternoon for ninety-minutes as they travel to the obscure, chilling part of the north that is Carlisle. The isolated region is not one that excites players of fans when it appears on the fixture list, particularly for sides in the South and after the challenging week Rovers have had, Brunton Park is not an easy place to go to particularly since Carlisle have only lost one of their last eight games there in all competitions.
This is a stark contrast to the beginning of the season where they conceded seventeen goals in their opening four games on their own turf. However, if Tranmere were to be victorious near the Scottish border then they would leap above United and more importantly further away from the relegation zone.
The early kick-off will see two Shropshire rivals play for bragging rights yet again as Shrewsbury host Walsall. Shrewsbury have only won one out of the last twelve games against their opponents and also are five points behind them in the current league table. To add to this, Walsall beat the Shrews 3-0 in the FA Cup last month. Overall, Saturday’s hosts have often come out worse off in these derby games, although, they have had two weeks off since their win at Stevenage in late November. Walsall lost narrowly in the FA Cup last week at Leyton Orient which was the fourth game in succession in which the Saddlers had failed to win.
Shrewsbury play host to near neighbours Walsall in League One's Lunchtime Kick Off
League Two play-off champions Bradford could move into the League One play-off places with a victory at home to leaders Leyton Orient. The Bantams are unbeaten in five league games whilst the Orient’s form has been quite impressive since the first game of the season where they destroyed Carlisle 5-1 at Brunton Park as they have only been defeated twice. Being league leaders, it will come as no shock to discover that they are also top-scorers in the division. This game will see the two most in-form strikers face each other for the first time this season as David Mooney and Nakhi Wells, both topping the scoring charts on thirteen goals this season, should be playing for their respective sides.
Wolves have a chance to move to top spot in the league if they can overcome MK Dons at Molineux. The hosts have only conceded eleven goals in the nineteen games they have played, better than any other team in the division. Although they have managed to reach the Third round of the FA Cup, the Dons lye in mid-table, very much adrift from the play-off places and come into this match off the back of five defeats in their last six games. Before a defeat to Peterborough United a fortnight ago, Kenny Jackett’s side had built up an eleven match unbeaten run and had yet to lose in the league away from home. Despite the defeat at London Road, they are still one of the bookmaker’s favourites to gain promotion. This will be the first meeting of the sides since Pete Winkleman decided to relocate Wimbledon to Milton Keynes.
New Brentford manager Mark Warburton begins his reign as the Bees boss with a home game against Oldham Athletic. This is Warburton’s first match as a manager of a full senior team after mainly managing youth teams in the past. Oldham are unbeaten in five league games and are five points clear of the drop zone under Lee Johnson, although, Brentford are unbeaten in the league for eight games and have not lost a home match since 5th October. The Bees have been victorious in each one of the last four meetings between these sides without conceding a single goal.
Bottom side Notts County travel to Colchester United aiming for their first away victory of the season. The only league one game to take place last week during the FA Cup second round saw them earn their first win since the end of October against Gillingham although even that could not lift them off the foot of the league. Colchester’s main issue has been consistency. Despite being underdogs for this match, the County have won the last three encounters between the two.
Although Notts are bottom of the league, it is fellow relegation contenders Crewe whom have the weakest attack in the division and they travel to Sixfields to face Coventry City who themselves have the worst defence in the whole top half of the division. Coventry have won just one of the last eight league encounters between these two teams but will be favourites with bookmakers for this match. Crewe knocked out the Sky Blues in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy semi-final earlier this year on the way to lifting the famous trophy at Wembley.
The 2003 winners of that competition, Bristol City, are very much struggling in League One. Under new manager Steve Cotterill, they edged passed non-league Tamworth in the FA Cup. City face Rotherham at Ashton Gate. Despite good financial backing, their billing as promotion favourites in August appears inaccurate as they are second bottom in the league. On the other hand, Rotherham are most definitely in contention for a play-off position and are unbeaten in five games. Despite this good form, they have been knocked out of both the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and the FA Cupin the space of seven games which included a home defeat to Rochdale. Despite a respectable record against the Millers, City has not kept a clean sheet against them in eleven games.
A team that are building a serious push for promotion are Preston North End. They may be six points adrift of the automatic promotion places but they have been consolidating a play-off position over the course of the season and on Saturday they make the journey to Sussex to face Crawley Town. Crawley are hovering in mid-table but have not won a match since 19th October and have only scored one single goal since then. This form is concerning for people associated with the club as they seemed to have consolidated their place in the league but the lack of goals could well lead to being stranded at the wrong end of the table.
A week after destroying Tranmere in the FA Cup, Peterborough have an opportunity to move up to 3rd position if they win at Gillingham. Gillingham manager Peter Taylor is not too popular with fans after two bad defeats in two weeks which saw them concede seven goals in the process.
In the rest of the League One action Port Vale face Stevenage and Sheffield United host Swindon Town.
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14/12/2013 01:28
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:12:18:23:31:44 by Deadly Submarine.
