The Mariners make the long trip to Wiltshire tomorrow with Swindon Town set to pose yet more stern opposition for Paul Hurst’s men in our tenth match of our Sky Bet League Two campaign.
Having already faced five of the top seven – and seven top-half teams – so far this term, we now face the top scorers in the league as the Mariners look to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
After falling to a 3-0 loss in our last away match to big-spending Wrexham, Hurst’s Town team were hit by a last-gasp winner from Crawley Town last weekend to fall to our first home defeat of the season.
Team News
Donovan Wilson returned to fitness in time to make his competitive debut for the Club from the bench against Crawley last weekend while Otis Khan built on a substitute appearance a fortnight ago to start his first match of the season against the Sussex club.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Hurst confirmed that Niall Maher will continue to be out after a scan confirmed the defender picked up some damage to his calf against Wrexham. He further added that it isn’t likely to be an injury that keeps him out long-term.
Hurst, though, did share that Callum Ainley could be out for up to two months after suffering a calf injury during his substitute appearance against Crawley last weekend.
Evan Khouri is still recovering from a minor ankle issue while Charles Vernam and Kieran Green continue to be out with their longer term issues.
The Mariners will be without Kamil Conteh at Swindon with the midfielder suspended after picking up five yellow cards with Hurst suggesting that Alex Hunt and Jamie Andrews could come into his consideration.
There was better news regarding Danny Rose who, barring any problems in today’s training session, will be available for selection.
Swindon Town
With twenty-four goals across their eight league matches, Swindon are the league’s top scorers at this stage with plenty of attacking talent at their disposal.
Experienced Premier League and Championship striker Charlie Austin returned to Swindon Town in January – making his first appearance for the Wiltshire club in the same fixture last season – and links up with 22-year-old Jake Young in Swindon’s attacking ranks.
The striker joined this summer on loan from fellow League Two side Bradford City and has scored nine goals already this season, earning rave reviews in the process.
Along with those two, creative midfielder Dan Kemp – impressive against the Mariners for Hartlepool last season – has started the season strongly with six goals to his name. On loan from MK Dons, the 24-year-old arrived at the County Ground this summer and, along with that goal haul, has four assists to his name – the same as Young and one more than Austin.
Form
The Mariners come into this match with five points from the last five matches, including our victory over Gillingham as well as away draws against Walsall and Bradford City. Town are also yet to win away from home this season with points at Walsall and Bradford our sole ones on the road.
Swindon, however, come into this match in good form and are unbeaten this season with four wins and four draws to their name. Of their five home matches this term, they have picked up maximum points on four occasions.
In the matches between the two sides last season, Swindon picked up the three points on both occasions with a 5-0 victory going their way at the County Ground in January.
Our last victory away to tomorrow’s hosts was in April 2018 when Town picked up a 1-0 win.
Coverage
Supporters overseas will be able to watch the match live on Mariners TV for just £10 with match passes available HERE.
UTM
