Accrington (h) Match Preview

So, how did you fill your Tuesday night?

Perhaps you walked past the Abbey, perhaps you watched some Champions League or perhaps you did a Hoolahan Tuesday special aka sit in the bath, candles lit, pan pipes on and forgot all about football. 

For the weary legs of Us players, the lack of a midweek game was surely a welcome sight. Bonz confirmed that a few of the squad were treated which an extra day off. Whilst the performance last time out at Burton was impressive, no one can argue that the Us needed a break. Hopefully then, the Us will be able to take it up a notch on Saturday when Accrington visit and turn draws into a win as we march on to 50 points. With home games against Accy, Shrewsbury, Morecambe and Cheltenham all still to come, our home advantage and decent returns at the Abbey this season have got to be seen as a key route to guaranteeing we’re in League One next year. With this in mind, we’ve got Saturday earmarked as a real differential. Can the Us pick up a win without Ironside? Will Storm Eunice play a factor? Will we see some returning players on the bench?

Takeaways from Bonner’s presser

• Lots of respect for Accrington and their achievements.
• Lots of love for The Digger’s recent form. 
• Greg Taylor has been training “a lot” and will play in a youth game next week
• Liam O’Neil hasn’t been on grass too much since Gillingham but was training again this week and hopes to be fit for Saturday.
• Lloyd Jones has been ill which has set back his recovery but is training again.
• Jensen Weir has been back at Brighton for treatment but will be back with us soon.
• Shilow Tracey has had a “really good training week”. 

Expected line-up

No guarantees on players returning from injury so we’re going with an unchanged XI from Burton but maybe a surprise on the bench.

Dimi, Williams, Dunk, Sherring, Okedina, Digby, May, Wessi, Brophy, Knibbler, Smith.

Opposition preview

Accy are a competitive and fierce team who have  had some good results recently and find themselves comfortable in midtable. 

I don’t want to scare anyone but Accy scored 4 from set pieces against Crewe last time out, let’s hope our extra time on the training pitch this weekend covered defending corners!

Who is their player to watch?

This season has seen two of Accy’s best talents move on. Firstly, Burgess to Ipswich, and then in January Dion Charles made the switch to Bolton. 

Winger Sean McConville has hit a rich vein of form whilst playing wide in a front 3. 

Who’s in the dugout?

John Coleman has been in charge since 2014 and has done miracles based on the (lack of) budget available. Understandably, Bonz was full of praise in his presser. 

What’s their recent form like?

Two wins on the bounce against Crewe and an impressive 2 zip win over Oxford. 

L-D-L-W-W 

Any ex-United players?

2012 emergency loan man Harry Pell played 7 games and bagged 2 goals for the Us in the conference. Looked really impressive for us but never made the move permanent, we’re blaming Jez. 

Last time out

A disappointing day out on our first away day back in League One. Comedy goal from Big Joe though… 

A matchday album to listen to

Orlando Weeks – Hop Up

The second solo album from former Maccabees frontman was released back in January. Anchored around Weeks’ soft whispering vocals, this is a carefree and poignant leftfield pop record which is full of charm.

The UTAS team’s terrible Moosenet predictions

Jordan: 2-1 United, Smith

Caspell: 2-1 United, Sherring

Tom: 2-0, The Knibbler 

Julian: 1-0 United, Smith

Owen: 2-1 United, Lankester

Swindle: 1-1, Tolaj 

From the archive

Accy at home can only mean one thing, a revisit to a barmy October afternoon in 2016. Two red cards and two penalty saves in the craziest ending to a game we’ve seen…