“They’ve built on last year’s team that wasn’t bad, to a completely different level”
Cheltenham Town welcome Salford City to Whaddon Road for a top of the table clash between two sides who have started the season in fine form.
Home advantage is on the mind of Cheltenham gaffer, Steve Cotterill, “being back at home, that’s a bit of a bonus, we know we’ve got a tough game this weekend.”
Cheltenham have experienced a few injury issues on top of suspensions with Cotterill mentioning “we’ll be a bit light this weekend, we know that.”
Shaun McWilliams and Favour Onukwuli will both miss the game through injury.
He added: “They look like they have good numbers in the positions around the pitch.”
Both sides played Accrington Stanley in their respective last games, as Cheltenham fell to a 2 – 0 defeat away from home, while Salford lost 5 – 4 on penalties in the EFL Trophy.
Cotteril revealed “I would be amazed if any of those who played [for Salford] the other night started on Saturday, so they’re in a very fortunate position.”
Salford have the luxury of good squad depth thanks to their owners, footballing icons, David Beckham, Gary Neville and more.
Cotterill acknowledged the job done by the owners saying, “I think he does a very good job, Gary Neville.”
Last season Salford finished in the play-off positions on 81 points, Cotterill commented, “They’ve built on last year’s team that wasn’t bad, to a completely new level.”
Cotterill mentioned the depth his Cheltenham team has compared to the Manchester outfit, with key man and September player of the month not available due to a red card he got in The Robin’s last game.
The 62-year-old gave insight into how “we’ve had emails that Charlie’s red card wasn’t a red card.”
The former Bristol City, Shrewsbury and Forest Green Rovers manager called the decision “very poor” with emphasis.
The last meeting between the two came on Saturday, February 4 where Cheltenham were the 3 – 2 victors.
Despite that, “I don’t really take too much notice of that. He further explained: “Two, maybe three players are the same [for Salford], could be the same for us, [it’s] almost two completely different teams.”
“[I look forward to this week’s game; it should be interesting.”
