Forest Green Rovers travel north to Fleetwood Town tomorrow night with hopes of ending their three game winless run after a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth on the weekend.
Rovers currently sit 22nd in the table and two points behind local rivals Cheltenham Town, but manager Ian Burchnall says there were huge positives to take from their narrow defeat to 5th place Portsmouth:
“Naturally we are disappointed with the result, but overall, really happy with the performance.
“I thought we controlled the game really well and in the back part of the first half and the majority of the second half, we did a lot of good things, playing with intensity and purpose.” Burchnall continued.
“We played a really good team, they are really well organised and I thought we gave a great account of ourselves.”
Burchnall’s side travel to Highbury stadium tomorrow with a cautious confidence of leaving the North West with a positive result.
Team News
22-year-old defender Udoka Godwin-Malife and forward Matt Stevens are still side lined for Rovers whereas, Cods manager Scott Brown has a fully fit and healthy squad to select from.
Opponents
Like Rovers, Fleetwood are also three games without a win in the league, losing 2-1 to Exeter City on the weekend, who Rovers beat 4-1 at the New Lawn in the EFL Trophy last Tuesday.
The history between the two sides is barren to say the least; only four competitive fixtures in their histories, with the last meeting over ten years ago.
Fleetwood edge the head-to-head, with two wins, one draw and one loss; Rovers will be hoping to balance the scales tomorrow night.
Celtic legend Scott Brown has predominantly opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation this season but goals in this system have been hard to come by, having found the back of the net only 12 times in 14 matches with their top goal-scorers being Daniel Batty and Carlos Mendes Gomes on two goals.
There could potentially be an eagerness and a pressure at Highbury for the home side to be offensive early on, this is perhaps an intangible that Rovers and Burchnall could utilise by playing the role of the antagonist and frustrating the hosts in the opening exchanges to turn the home fans against their players.
Kick-off is at 19:45pm tomorrow, with Rovers fans hoping they’ll be able escape the clutches of the relegation zone.
