Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:48 pm
Posts: 4809
Location: In the Armchair.
|
THE CAZBAR BIG GAME PREVIEW – CHELTENHAMSix games ago we trudged off Vale Park after recording a 1-0 defeat with League 2 beckoning that it required our attendance for next season, the future did look bleak.
Since then, a few things have happened, fortunately the next three games saw us with a more realistic opportunity against opposition teams that were equally struggling, and getting something out of those game by game has improved the confidence of the players, and the mood in the stands, and of course another big factor was the return of Lewie, who bought calm, leadership, and a guiding hand on the shoulder of those who were going through a rough patch. We should also applaud Jacko who has found a way to get the best out of the players and turn them into a team capable of digging themselves out of the hole they had found themselves in.
Three 1-0 wins later and the calibre of the opposition moved to playoff hopefuls, Wycombe, Pompey, and Derby, but with a newly found confidence we came out of it undefeated, although for the Derby game you have to wonder how.
The team news before that game was concerning with both Tucker & Harvie out and with wave after wave of Derby players coming forward you had the feeling at times we could be on the end of a right thrashing, it was difficult viewing.
But somehow we survived to halftime just 1-0 down thanks in large part to Cumming pulling off save after save, some last ditch defending, a little bit of luck here and there, and Derby spurning golden opportunities.
We came out in the second half and although Derby didn’t really relent I felt we restricted their opportunities. Yes it was a bit frantic on occasions, and yes we did just kick it anywhere to clear our lines, but we fought like hell and thankfully converted a rare opportunity at the unlikely feet of Henry Lawrence, who it has to be said was awful in the first half but thankfully grew into the game in the second half.
Derby desperate to keep up their hunt for promotion tried to pull off one or two stunts, the deliberate handball in our box and then trying to claim it was one of our players, and the guy that jumped into Jules and went down like a sniper had taken him out, but fortunately the ref was not going to be hoodwinked, and we held out for a memorable and at one stage a very unlikely point.
So, who would of thought it, 6 games unbeaten, but a reality check, although our position is more favourable than that dark day at Port Vale, there is still work to be done to confirm our League 1 status for another season and I would think we need two more wins from our remaining 5 games as Accrington and Oxford fight to avoid missing what looks to be the last bus out of town.
Up next we have Cheltenham Town who have themselves performed a recovery that has pulled them away from the drop zone and have in recent weeks drawn with Sheffield Wednesday, beaten Posh at London Road, and only on Saturday halted Ipswich Town from equaling a club record 9th straight win and without conceding. For the benefit of the tape Ipswich had 23 shots with 9 on target and 65% possession, but the dangerous Alfie May converted 6 minutes from time after the Ipswich keeper Walton failed to hang on to a shot from Ryan Broom.
Shown below is the league record of both clubs, with the home form of the Dons, and the away record of Cheltenham.MK Dons (19th) – P 41, W 11, D 9, L 21, GF 38, GA 58, Pts 42.
Cheltenham (16th) – P 41, W 12, D 10, L 19, GF 35, GA 52, Pts 46.
MK Dons (H) (23rd) – P 20, W 4, D 5, L 11, GF 14, GA 26, Pts 17.
Cheltenham (A) (20th) – P 20, W 5, D 3, L 12, GF 15, GA 28, Pts 18.Cheltenham’s 5 league wins on the road have come at Peterborough, Exeter City, Shrewsbury Town, Charlton Athletic, and Cambridge Utd. Just to tidy things up the 3 draws have been against Ipswich Town, Fleetwood Town, and Port Vale, with the 12 defeats against Barnsley, Accrington, Burton Albion, Sheffield Wednesday, Forest Green Rovers, Plymouth, Morecambe, Bristol Rovers, Derby County, Portsmouth, Bolton, and Lincoln City.
We have already played Cheltenham twice this season, firstly losing 2-1 at home back in August in the EFL Trophy, Zak Jules scoring a neat finish after Alfie May had scored from the spot after 8 minutes. Early in the second half former Don Charlie Brown forced home a goal mouth scramble to give the Robins the win.
Two months later at the end of October we played out a 0-0 draw in the league at Whaddon Road with the highlights being a superb stop by Cumming in the first half and Mo being denied by an even better save in the final seconds. We had 15 shots in the game with 8 being on target but the vast majority were tame efforts that could have only embarrassed the keeper.
Our record against Cheltenham is pretty good with just 2 defeats, the full record is shown below with all games being LG1 unless stated.2008/09 – MK Dons 3 Cheltenham 1 (Gerba 2, S Baldock)
2008/09 – Cheltenham 3 MK Dons 5 (Wilbraham 3, Johnson 2)
2011/12 – Cheltenham 1 MK Dons 4 (LC) (S Baldock, Ibehre, Lewington, Balanta)
2012/13 – Cheltenham 1 MK Dons 1 (LC) (Bowditch) Dons won 5-3 on pens.
2018/19 – MK Dons 3 Cheltenham 0 (Aneke, Healey, Simpson)
2018/19 – Cheltenham 3 MK Dons 1 (Aneke)
2021/22 – Cheltenham 1 MK Dons 1 (Boateng)
2021/22 – MK Dons 3 Cheltenham 1 (Parrott 2, Eisa)
2022/23 – MK Dons 1 Cheltenham 2 (FLT) (Jules)
2022/23 – Cheltenham 0 MK Dons 0
TOTAL RECORD – P 10, W 6, D 2, L 2, GF 22, GA 13.As you have probably already guessed Alfie May is the top scorer for the Robins with 15 league goals from 36 games played, and Ryan Jackson topping the assists list with 4 to his name so far this season.
The gaffer at Cheltenham is 44 year old Wade Elliot born in Southampton, and he was on the Saints books as a midfield player until released at 16. He joined non-league Bashley from the Southern League Division 1 South and continued his studies but never gave up hope of making it to the big time and he was rewarded three years later when Bournemouth took a punt and signed him on for just £5,000 and he went on to play 257 games for them. He also had spells at Burnley, Birmingham City, and Bristol City with a career record of 793 games scoring 82 goals, not bad for someone released at 16.
Hanging up his boots in 2015 he moved to the coaching team at Bristol City overseeing the U21’s, and following the sacking of Steve Cotterill he had his first taste of being in charge as the Interim manager for 5 games. Elliot also had a period of time with Forest Green Rovers as an Assistant to the Academy team, Stoke City U23’s as an Assistant and then Manager before joining the coaching team at Cheltenham in 2020.
In June 2022 the then boss at Cheltenham Michael Duff announced he was off to pastures new, and three days later turned up as the new Barnsley Manager, with Elliot being confirmed as the new gaffer for the Robins.
Elliot now has 50 games under his belt for Cheltenham with a record of W 16, D 12, L 22, with a Win Ratio of just 31%, for the record Jacko’s record stands at P 20, W 6, D 6, L 8, GF 17, GA 17, with a 30% Win Ratio.Betting – For the first time in a while we are the favourites, although at a favourable price if you fancy a bet.
MK Dons 11/10, Draw 12/5, Cheltenham 3/1Team News – O’Hora continues to improve trying to make it on the pitch before the end of the season but is now joined by Harvie who damaged his ankle against Pompey and looks a doubt for this game and possibly more.
Tucker is expected to return after picking up a minor injury in training in the build up to the Derby game, and Jules will be looking to shake off the knock that forced him off in the final minutes on Monday.
No news on KaiKai who returned from International duty with Sierra Leone with an injury. Also, we are not too sure if the Leko substitution on Monday was tactical or because he had picked up a knock, so we will keep an eye on that one.Prediction – Well for those thinking this is a regulation three points for the Dons and the Robins are just going to turn up on Saturday and roll over you may need to think again. Long shots for relegation they maybe, but I think they would welcome 3 points just to make sure, and the sooner the better, so I would suggest we are not going to have it all our own way. Furthermore, it’s hard to believe with our upturn in form that Oxford and Accrington still have us firmly in view, we haven’t shaken them off just yet, there is still work to be done.
There is nothing much between the two teams over the season comparing league records, and it’s even closer comparing our home form with their away form, so the logical prediction is a draw 1-1 or 0-0, but I’m going to stick my neck out and predict a Dons win by the odd goal, possibly 1-0.
Saturday Games – As usual throughout the afternoon we will be keeping an eye on the fixtures that matter.Accrington v Fleetwood Town
Oxford Utd v Bolton
Cambridge Utd v Peterborough
Morecambe v Wycombe WanderersThe Run In – Below we have listed the remaining games for us, Accrington, and Oxford as we feel its down to this trio who takes the last relegation berth.
MK Dons – Cheltenham (H), Charlton (H), Fleetwood (A), Barnsley (H), Burton Albion (A).
Oxford Utd – Bolton (H), Portsmouth (H), Barnsley (A), Cheltenham (H), Forest Green (A), Accrington (H).
Accrington – Fleetwood (H), Peterborough (H), Portsmouth (A), Bolton (A), Cambridge (H), Oxford Utd (A).Hopefully we are home and dry before that last weekend of fixtures, we certainly don’t want to be playing Burton Albion with one eye on that Accrington v Oxford Utd game.
That’s it I think, don’t forget we will be back at SMK on Tuesday for our game versus Charlton Athletic, so look out for the CazBar Big Game Preview for that game.
See you at the CazBar for the best football grub in the EFL, and don’t forget……Make some noise, and get behind the lads, COYD’s.  WD
_________________
Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight
|
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
