Cheltenham Town head coach Wade Elliott believes Tuesday’s Papa John’s Trophy quarter-final against Salford City will be a big opportunity to bounce back after losing two on the spin, writes Joshua Rogers.
Elliott will be looking to put Cheltenham’s past two games behind them after losing both and with a win they will find themselves one game away from a rare trip to Wembley.
Elliott saw his side lose to Bristol Rovers and Morecambe and has said: “the dressing room will be wounded after a big game against Morecambe.”
He also believes that it is a “chance to come out and vent their frustration.”
Cheltenham will be favourites going into this game as they are a league above Salford with Town being in League One and Salford in League Two.
The Robins progressed from their group finishing second and beat their local rivals Forest Green Rovers in the Last 32 of the Southern Section on penalties after the game finished 1-1 in 90 minutes.
They then followed that up with a 4-0 win over Chelsea Under 21s.
Salford progressed from their group finishing top having to face Accrington Stanley, Liverpool U21s and Rochdale. Since the group they have faced Bradford City beating them 1-0 and beat Port Vale in the next round by the same scoreline to progress.
Defender Charlie Raglan will have to be watching from the stands as his two bookings from previous games in the tournament means an automatic one game ban.
That will be a huge blow as his red card against Shrewsbury Town meant that he was missing from the previous two losses and missing for the next league game against Derby County.
Arsenal loanee James Olayinka is also unavailable for this game as he is cup tied due to making an appearance for Arsenal’s U21 team back in the early stages of the tournament.
Whoever progresses from this game will be one game away from Wembley and will be facing one of the other six teams left in the tournament.
Lincoln City face Accrington, Bolton Wanderers face Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers face Plymouth Argyle.
There is no standout team or clear favourite within this as a lot of similar League One teams are in the mix for the trophy and will fancy their shot at lifting the prize.
No U21 team is left in the tournament having all been knocked out with many fans being happy about their exclusion due to them not being within the Football League.
