It’s a sure measure of the progress made by The Shots since manager Dean Holdsworth took charge of the side just four short weeks ago, when they came away from league leaders Chesterfield at the weekend, disappointed not to have taken all three points – a thought that was echoed by Jermain McGlashan after the match.
”I think we would have taken a point before the game but in the circumstances, if you look at the game we were minutes away from what would have been a big win, it was a bit disappointing but we’ve got the game on Tuesday so if we can get four points out of a possible six then I think we’ll be on the way.
”We’ve got to look at the way we played in the second half and take that into the game. We know they’re a decent side but we know what we can do so from the off, we’ve got to be playing how we played against Chesterfield in the second half.”
The Shots enter the match in 17th place in League Two with 33 points from 27 games, while Morecambe are one place below them in 18th with a point less from the same amount of games.
Shots Team News
Having set up base camp in the North following the weekends draw against League leaders Chesterfield, the boss is confident that his side have had time to prepare in the correct manner and speaking to the Premium Shots from the teams hotel on Monday afternoon, Holdsworth said: ”Training has gone very well, we picked up a couple of knocks at the weekend but we’ve been able to manage those a lot better given that we have stayed up to prepare and the lads have had a chance to rest rather than travel around twenty hours there and back so its been well worth while that we’ve done the preparation right so it gives no excuses for when we go out there and be as fresh as we possibly can.
”It’s going to be a tough game and we had them watched at the weekend and this league has shown me that most teams who are given time and room on the ball then they can hurt you. We know that we’ve got to work hard and close down and we need to get back in to position when we’re not in possession and we also know to trust each other with the ball and when we do that we actually play well.”
Luke Guttridge is back in contention for a place in the starting line-up having missed out at the weekend with a slight groin strain and Wade Small has fully recovered after his upset stomach, leaving John Halls the only member of the squad not to feature in Holdsworth’s plans as he continues to regain match fitness following his long term injury.
Shots from: Jamie Young, Jordan Clement, Ben Herd, Simon Grand, Luke Guttridge, Darren Jones, Jamie Vincent, Anthony Charles, Ben Harding, Danny Hylton, Manny Panther, Aaron Morris, Peter Vincenti, Clayton Fortune, Jermaine McGlashan, Wade Small, Alex Rodman, Reece Connolly and Tim Sills.
The Opposition
If football be the food of love, play on…
With their own perfectly-honed sense of drama, Aldershot Town appear on the Globe stage for the first time this January, in search of an inspired performance.
Football may be theatre for the masses, but this is, of course, Morecambe’s Globe Arena, directed by Sammy McIlroy, rather than Shakespeare’s historic venue; and The Shots enter, stage left, pursued not by a bear but by one notable monkey on their back.
Aldershot Town failed to win in six visits to the Shrimps’ old Christie Park stadium – including a 1-0 defeat in the ground’s final League fixture, in May 2010 – and will be hoping that they enjoy better fortunes on their first trip to the new 6,476 capacity, £12 million development.
Morecambe may have moved just one mile to the Globe Arena, but their facilities have leapt several generations forward into the 21st century. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to christen their new home with a repeat of last season’s success, and the two losing Play-Off semi-finalists are both thus far languishing in mid-table.
Recent defeats at Stevenage and Hereford have been compounded by the loss of winger Mark Duffy to Scunthorpe. They have, at least, been boosted by the return from injury of top scorer Phil Jevons, but McIlroy’s problems have been at the other end of the pitch, with the fifth-worst defence in League Two. Yet any team capable of inflicting defeats on Port Vale, Shrewsbury and Torquay – as the Shrimps have since mid-December – can surely be a match for anybody on their day.
A debilitating 5-2 thrashing in 2005 marked one of the low-points of Terry Brown’s reign, despite The Shots being level at 2-2 at half-time. Two other infamous matches saw Aldershot Town throw away two and three-goal leads and snatch a draw from the jaws of apparently comfortable victory.
Still, come next Monday night, we will all be able to sleep, perchance to dream… of a Shots win.
The Shrimps are likely to be unchanged from the weekend with Paul Scott is the only absentee with a knee injury.
The Shrimps from: Barry Roach, Laurie Walker, Andy Holdsworth, Jim Bentley, Adam Rundle, Garry Hunter, Chris Shuker, Phil Jevons, Neil Wainwright, Lee Jones, James Spencer, Chris McCready, Stuart Drummond, Andrew Fleming, Kevan Hurst, Laurence Wilson, Stewart Hendry, Paul Mullin, Andy Parrish, Gavin Clark, Nile Cowperthwaite, Chris Wraighte, Tony Capaldi, Kieran Charnock and Scott Brown.
Taking Charge
Peter Quinn will be taking charge of the match and will be assisted by Paul Graham and Billy Khatib. Gary Hilton is the fourth official.
Weather Forecast
The BBC weather forecast for the match given as sunny intervals with highs of 6°C during the day, changing to light rain with highs of 5°C as the night progresses.
Ticket News
Tickets for the match are set at:
Adult terrace: £15, seats: £16.
Concessions terrace: £12, seats: £13.
Juniors* terrace: £6, seats: £7.
* = This match has been classified as a Shrimps’ “Quid A Kid” – however these tickets must be bought in advance and no later the 6.45pm on the day of the match.
The match is not all-ticket and supporters can pay at the turnstiles on the day.
Other News
- BBC Radio Surrey
Supporters unable to make the match can hear live coverage from the match on BBC Radio Surrey (on 104.6 fm) which is brought to you by the regular team of Gavin Denison and Aldershot Town Media Manager Steve Gibbs.
Supporters are reminded that there is no internet coverage of this match.