Forest Green Rovers play host to Exeter City on Tuesday night in what promises to be an exciting League Two match up at The New Lawn.
Rovers currently sit sixth place in the league thanks to a victory at the weekend and will be hoping for more of the same following their 3-2 triumph over 20th placed Scunthorpe United.
It was rovers’ first match following the departure of head coach Mark Cooper who managed the club for five years. The club’s Under-18’s manager received a promotion to become the Interim head coach for the first team.
Jimmy Ball, son of England World Cup winner Alan Ball, got his Forest Green tenure off to a flying start as goals from Jordan Moore-Taylor, Ebou Adams, and Chris Stokes saw Rovers end a four-game losing streak and claim their first win in seven league matches.
It has not been often in recent games that Forest Green have not conceded a goal. The reality is that the Green Devils have seen their defence breached in five of the previous six clashes between both sides, giving up a total of 11 goals along the way.
Exeter City are yet to suffer defeat at the hands of Forest Green who have not managed a win in any of the last five meetings between the two clubs. A solid record to hold for the firm favourites heading into this fixture.
The visitors have suffered an inconsistent run of form as of late which continued on Saturday after a goalless draw at home to 23rd placed Southend United.
But the Grecians will be hoping for a similar result to last year‘s fixture which saw City claim a 1-0 victory at the New Lawn on New Year’s Day.
Team news
Nearly everyone is available for selection, with just one fitness concern for the the interim manager to be concerned about with Jamille Matt (Finger Injury) missing out.
Exeter boss Matt Taylor has a number of players out of action. Rory McArdle (Knee Injury) and Joel Randall (Hamstring Injury) will definitely not be playing on Tuesday night.
Take a look at what happened in the reverse fixture earlier in the season on Boxing Day.
The stats don’t lie
- Forest Green Rovers will face Exeter City at The New Lawn for only the fourth time in League Two – they have never gotten the better of their visitors (D1 L2) and scored just once in those three previous games.
2. A 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture was only the second draw between Forest Green and Exeter in the Football League; in their previous six such encounters before that stalemate, Exeter have won four and lost just one (D1).
For all the latest sports news follow our live blog HERE.
3. Forest Green Rovers have only won one of their last seven league matches (D1 L5) but that victory did come in their most recent fixture which they won 3-2 against Scunthorpe.
4. Exeter have lost four of their last five league fixtures away from home (W1). However, the Grecians have scored 31 goals on their travels in the league this season – only Oldham (37) Cambridge (35) have scored more on the road in League Two
With only four points separating both teams in the top half of the table, Tuesday night’s result will be crucial for either side to stem their chances of reaching the play-offs with just five League fixtures remaining.
