After the elation of finally putting our Wembley hoodoo to bed last Sunday against Tranmere, our focus now turns to our trip to Accrington. But how will the game pan out?
RECENT FORM
Despite a promising season so far, the Lancashire side have experienced a dip in form as of late. Having lost their last two games 4-1 to Bristol Rovers and 3-2 to MK Dons, they have lost three, drawn one and won one from their last five games, collecting a mere four points from a possible fifteen.
KEY PLAYERS
Dion Charles is the joint 3rd highest top scorer in the league with sixteen goals and two assists in thirty games. Colby Bishop has also managed eight goals and four assists in thirty-one appearances. Both of these players are strikers.
FORMATION
Stanley frequently change their formation; having played 4-2-3-1 in their last game, 3-4-3 the game prior and 4-3-3 the game before that, it would appear they aim to be unpredictable in their approach to games.
WEAKNESSES
All three of their goals conceded away to MK Dons came from crosses from wide areas, as well as being caught out multiple times playing the ball out from the back. This may play into our hands given our favoured tactic of crossing into Wyke and aiming to press from the front.
SELECTION
Dion Sanderson, Carl Winchester and Jake Vokins are all available to return to the side after being cup-tied previously. Aiden O'Brien and Jordan Jones may feature after both had knocks going into the final. Ross Stewart finally made the bench on Sunday and may look to gain some minutes on Wednesday evening.
LJ’S INJURY UPDATE
“Denver has now trained without restriction. The next step for him is to try to look at a consistent training period and minutes, so we might try to arrange a game next week behind closed doors at home against a local team. Tom Flanagan is out with a hamstring injury and best case he’s going to be out for three to four weeks, which is disappointing. Ross Stewart has had an amazing month, he’s has nought appearances, nought goals, nought assists and won one trophy, but on a serious note, it’s brilliant to have him back. We want all the players to be as fit as they can possibly be because it’s not easy and it’s unprecedented times, so soon as we get one back, we feel very grateful and very happy that we have different options. That’s the beauty of all our players, they all have their unique individual quality and what we’ve had to do is be very flexible to maximise that, but the more options we have the better.”
PREDICTION
Accrington will be no push-over. Having had a strong season until recent weeks it's clear the side are able to compete with anyone in the division on their day. However, having lost three out of their last five and our recent form (especially our ability to win against the run of play) I back us to win this game. I'll predict a 2-1 Sunderland victory.
