The disappointment of dropping two points against Lincoln City on Tuesday evening has now been filed and the opportunity to put things right will be all that Dean Holdsworth will be focusing on as he continues to monitor his inherited squad to see just where improvement will need to take place during the summer months.
The arrival of Alex Rodman certainly appears to have had an immediate impact on the goal scoring front, and as Peter Vincenti continues to improve with each game, it’s clear that the boss knows what he wants and it is clear that there wont be room for any passengers.
While the ultimate objective this season remains to reach the play off’s, it’s clear that the side need to step up a gear and turn draws into victories (The Shots are joint top draw specialists with 12, along with Stevenage and Accrington Stanley) if that objective is to stand any chance of being a reality and with Northampton having drawn their last three, you’d be forgiven for predicting a similar fate on Saturday.
The Shots enter the match in 16th place in League Two with 36 points from 30 games, while the Cobblers are two places higher in 14th with a point more but having played a game less.
Shots Team News
Shots boss Dean Holdsworth wants even more from his players for the rest of the season but consistency is certainly the key ingredient that has been missing for much of the season and he said: ”Once you get out on the pitch, it’s all about the players and that’s why it is important that the players concentrate for 95 minutes.
”We’ve come such a long way in the last month and there’s been a lot of hard work and the players have been feeling it too and we’ve stepped up the standards and the results have been decent – all be it we’d have liked to have had a couple more wins in there.
”We can’t go in to any game this season underestimating anybody and there isn’t any room for complacency and the players know that and what’s really important is that there’s the same commitment, the same desire and same passing ability that we showed for the majority of the game on Tuesday night and that it goes into the game on Saturday. And if it does, we’ll be in good shape.”
Jack Randell is unavailable for selection having suffered his second broken leg of the season while Damian Spencer remains on loan with Eastbourne Borough and Anthony Staker is on loan at Wycombe Wanderers. Other than those three, Holdsworth has a fully fit squad to chose from however Jermaine McGlashan may be rested with wear and tear to his shins so the talented youngster may remain on the bench.
Shots from: Jamie Young, Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, Ben Herd, Simon Grand, Luke Guttridge, Darren Jones, Jamie Vincent, Anthony Charles, Ben Harding, Danny Hylton, Manny Panther, Aaron Morris, John Halls, Peter Vincenti, Clayton Fortune, Jermaine McGlashan, Wade Small, Alex Rodman, Reece Connolly and Tim Sills.
The Opposition
Ian Sampson will be looking for a marked improvement when his side take to the field against The Shots after describing his sides midweek performance in their 3-3 draw with Morecambe as ”rubbish” following the players surrendering their lead on three separate occasions letting the Shrimps back in to the game.
”It was a good point at the end of the day because that’s the worst we’ve played in months and months,” the Cobblers boss told the media after the match. ”I chose an attacking side and a team that would go out there and pass the ball, but they couldn’t pass water.
”With the team I picked I knew it would be an open game but I told them afterwards they were rubbish and we were lucky to get a point in the end.”
Harsh words indeed, but like The Shots, far too many points have been dropped at Sixfields this season and Sampson is looking to address the statistics against Holdsworth’s side.
”We’ve not got a great record against Aldershot since they came back into the Football League so we’ll be looking to turn them over at the weekend.
”They’re in a similar position to ourselves in the league so it will be a difficult game and you will probably see two evenly matched sides.”
Only Paul Walker (hand), Tadhg Purcell (knee) and Abdul Osman (suspension having been sent off against Port Vale) are reportedly missing from selection for the Cobblers but Simpson has hinted that he expects to make changes from the side that faced Morecambe during the week.
Cobbler's from: Chris Dunn, Mihai Gherasim, Paul Rodgers, Marcus Hall, Kevin Thornton, Craig Hinton, Dean Beckwith, Shaun Harrad, Andrew Holt, Nathaniel Wedderburn, John Johnson, Courtney Herbert, Billy McKay, Michael Jacobs, Lion McKenzie, Alex Konstantinou, Alistair Slowe, Charlie Death, Liam Davis, Ben Islam, Ben Tozer, Greg Kaziboni, Francis Laurent, Michael Built, Josh Walker and Malachi Farquharson.
Taking Charge
Karl Evans will be taking charge of the match and will be assisted by John Farries and Marc Perry. Russell Fletcher is the fourth official.
Weather Forecast
The BBC weather forecast for the match given as white cloud after some early morning heavy rain with highs of 6°C.
Ticket News
Tickets for the match are set at:
Adult seats: £19.
Concessions seats: £15.
Juniors (under 18’s) seats: £6.
Juniors (under 7’s) seats: Free.
The match is not all-ticket but supporters must purchase a ticket at the Portakabin at the away end before proceeding to the turnstiles. No payment can be made at the turnstiles.
Other News
- Tour of Duty III
Supporters are reminded that this match is the Red Blue Army’s Tour of Duty for this season and as such, a larger than normal away following should be expected. Please allow additional time to get into the ground and once in there – keep up the noise!
- 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.