Penalty kings United travel up North on Saturday to 80’s milk merchants Accrington Stanley. Who are they, I hear you say? Well, read on to find out…
The cup win over Swindon saw Bonner make a number of changes to the side that started against Oxford on the opening day, but we expect him to revert to a similar XI for this game. Dimi Mitov will keep his place in goal after his penalty heroics, but sadly Jubril Okedina seems to have picked up an injury that looks set to keep him out for a few weeks, meaning Lloyd Jones (who picked up a knock himself against Swindon but should be fine for Saturday) will partner Greg Taylor at the back. In the middle, O’Neil & May will fight for a place alongside the Digger, whilst we think Wes, Brophy and Shilow Tracey will provide the attacking options, with Ironside starting up front alone.
Expected U’s Line Up: Mitov, Williams, Jones, Taylor, Iredale, Digby, O’Neil, Tracey, Hoolahan, Brophy, Ironside
Who’s Their Player To Watch? Harry Pell impressed last year in a poor Colchester side, and was briefly linked with a return to the Abbey.
Who’s In The Dugout? John Coleman seems to have been at Accrington since time began, originally managing them from 1999-2012 before spells at Rochdale, Southport and Sligo Rovers. He returned to the Wham Stadium in 2014.
What’s Their Recent Form Like? Mixed. They lost 2-1 to Wycombe in their opening league game, but beat Rotherham by the same scoreline in the cup midweek.
Any Ex-United Players? Just Harry Pell, seven games on loan back in that season we had a hundred loanees.
Last Time Out: Accrington 1-0 U’s 24 February 2018
A very iffy goal from Accy gave them all three points in our last outing
From The Archive: United 2-1 Accrington 1 October 2016
That game. That Will Norris double penalty save.
We preview the Accy game amongst other things in the latest episode of the UTAS Podcast
Under The Abbey Stand 
Okedina potentially being injured tells me we still need to sign another centre half before the deadline, with Jones seemingly not fully fit either. Also be interesting to see if they add another forward now Dallas has gone.
In terms of tactics, we haven’t looked a goalscoring threat with a lone forward yet. I think Mark will stick with it, especially away, but it has to be a concern that we just can’t seem to make it work and look a goal threat, especially with the number of attacking midfield options we have. It should work perfectly for this squad, but as yet the goals just don’t look like coming in open play.
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