County travel to Burton tomorrow, with boss Paul Simpson looking to extend The Hatters’ unbeaten run to six games in a row.
We once again came back from two goals down on Tuesday night at Edgeley Park to draw 2-2 with Accrington, just three days after Paul Turnbull struck twice to earn us a 2-2 draw with Aldershot at EP – and Simpson takes his ‘confident’ side to the Pirelli Stadium to face off against Paul Peschisolido’s Burton side, with hopes of a sixth game without defeat.
County’s away form has been decent this season, with two wins in our past two league outings at Macclesfield and then Oxford, but Simpson is under no illusions and wants his men to ‘take no chances at the back’ amid concerns over a defence leaking goals.
Vital Quotes:
Paul Simpson (after 2-2 draw with Accy): ‘It feels a bit like Groundhog Day. We can’t keep giving teams two goal starts.’
‘We can take plenty of positives after the way we finished the game, but in the first half Accrington were outstanding at times. Their movement caused us untold problems and we were struggling to deal with it.’
‘I changed the set-up at half-time and it did get better. We have to stop conceding these sloppy goals, though. Because going to places like Burton and Stevenage, these compact little stadiums with the fans breathing down your neck, it’ll be difficult to get anything from the game if we give these sides one or two goal starts before we wake up.’
Burton Albion Team News:
Burton strike duo Shaun Harrad and Greg Pearson are big doubts for the game.
Defenders Nathan Stanton and Aaron Webster will also likely miss out on the visit of The Hatters, while midfielder Adam Bolder should be on the bench after recovering from an ankle knock.
Player to watch: Lewis Young
Youngster Young (!) is the younger brother of England international Ashley, and started his career alongside big brother in Watford’s academy.
His pace alone will frighten the life out of League Two defences.
County Team News:
Barry Conlon looks set to miss out once again after a slow recovery from ankle surgery, so Jamie Proctor may continue up front alongside the main man George Donnelly.
Jake Simpson could keep his place on the right-hand side after an impressive full debut against Accrington on Saturday, and young Tom Fisher is pushing for a start after his vital header got County back into the game on Tuesday night.
Player to watch: George Donnelly
The man on fire, capable of a goal at any second. Like Young for Burton, he has unbelievable pace at this level and that alone scares the hell out of big defenders.
The main goal threat for The Hatters, and the subject of the fans’ attentions this week as we search for a new song to sing for The Don!
Match Odds
Burton – 5/6
Draw – 12/5
County – 7/2
Match Prediction:
1-1. Another game unbeaten, another draw. Donnelly obviously…
Next Fixtures:
Gillingham vs COUNTY
Priestfield
Saturday 9th October
3pm
npower League Two
Given our away form and the fact that 2 of their strikers are out plus a couple of defenders I’m going for a 2-1 win. Good to see Conlon’s still out, at the moment he’s about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Come on the Hatters