CC Midweek: 15/16th Jan

[kompressaur]

Coca-Cola League One
16 Jan 19:45 Cheltenham v Scunthorpe 2.62 3.20 2.40
16 Jan 19:45 Tranmere v Crewe 1.72 3.40 4.33

Coca-Cola League Two
15 Jan 19:45 Walsall v Grimsby 1.53 3.75 6.50
16 Jan 19:45 Accrington Stanley v Mansfield 2.37 3.20 2.75
16 Jan 19:45 Bury v Darlington 2.10 3.20 3.20
odds from bet365

[igor5]

Walsall-Grimsby
Walsall manager Richard Money will be without midfielder Daniel Fox for the home clash with Grimsby.

The 20-year-old midfielder, who has been a regular for the Saddlers this term, serves a one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards.

New recruits Par Cederqvist and Geordie Lyall are both available to make debuts. Darren Wrack will also be in contention after overcoming a hamstring problem.

On-loan striker Tommy Wright has returned to Barnsley after having his loan deal from the Championship side cut short.

The Saddlers are unbeaten in their last five matches and sit three points clear at the top of League Two.

Grimsby have signed Bristol Rovers' James Hunt on loan in time for the midfielder to feature.

The 30-year-old has joined the Mariners on loan for a month after being told he was surplus to requirements at the Memorial Stadium.

However, midfielder Anthony Pulis has ended his loan spell at Blundell Park after picking up a knee injury in the 2-0 defeat by Chester last week.

Midfielder Paul Bolland, who has been struggling with a thigh problem, failed a fitness test ahead of that game but is expected to be fit to feature at the Bescot.

Veteran defender John McDermott (calf) is a minor doubt but there are question marks over strikers Michael Reddy (ankle) and Isaiah Rankin (thigh), while Nick Fenton serves the second games of a three-match ban.

soccer365

[daikoku]

Walsall v Grimsby

Preview from http://www.upthesaddlers.com

Well, the little period of consecutive Saturdays with no matches has ended and, contrary to the worries expressed beforehand, the Saddlers are still sitting pretty on top of the League, three points clear of Swindon with a game in hand, and with two games in hand on the rest of the pack. It’s time to welcome a former hero back to Walsall tomorrow with a team refreshed and renewed from their break in Gran Canaria, with the new signings on board and, hopefully, with a resounding win in front of the cameras.

For the first time this season, the Saddlers will be reporting a clean bill of health, as even long term absentee Darren Wrack has been declared fit and Allan Picken did play a full part in the sessions while the team were away. That means that it is likely that only Daniel Fox will be absent, thanks to his suspension, along with Tommy Wright, returned to Barnsley.

New signings Gerodie Lyall and Par Cederqvist will be looking to play some part, but I would think it’s probable that only the Swede might start, giving a probable line up of:

Ince, Westwood, Gerrard, Roper, Taylor, Wight, Dobson, Pead, Keates, Butler, Cederqvist.

The bench is probably gong to look something like: Bossu, Dann, Lyall, Sam, Bedeau.

Back in charge at Grimsby is, of course, Saddlers legend, former star striker and manager (and still record signing) Alan Buckley. He has been out of football for a while and was bought in to try and halt Grimsby’s inexorable slide down the table. It seems he has a real job on his hands.

There isn’t any injury news from the Mariners at the moment, as you might expect on a Sunday, but one player they will certainly be missing is Tony Pulis’s son Anthony. The midfielder, who has been on loan at Blundell Park, was injured in the last game and returned to Stoke City. Former Notts County midfielder Paul Bolland missed that game, but is expected to be fit.

Old friends to look out for? Isiah Rankine has got a few goals against us over the years (including a winner at Bescot for Brentford two seasons ago), but has found goals hard to come by this term and forward Michael Reddy is a familiar name to many also. The fact that he and Rakine have just two goals between them this season says a lot about Grimsby.

Predictions?

Grimsby go into the game in 19th place, just three points clear of danger and on the back of four defeats on the bounce. Their away record is:-

Played 13, Won 2, Drawn 3 Lost 8, scoring a meagre 8 goals in the process.

Even given the Saddlers’ well known ability to cock things up in front of the cameras, it’s difficult to see anything other than a home win.

Walsall Missing

Forward - Tommy Wright - A loan signing from Barnsley who has returned to the Championship club. Played 6 games for Walsall with 2 goals.

Defender - Daniel Fox - Suspended after 5th Yellow card. Played 30 games with 3 goals.

New Signings

Defender - Gerodie Lyall - Primarily a right back, the Canadian defender has spent the last 8 seasons at Vancouver Whitecaps.

Forward - Par Cederqvist - Signed from Norwegian club Raufoss.

Grimsby Missing

Midfielder - Anthony Pulis - A loan signing from Stoke who has returned to the Championship club. Played 8 games with 0 goals.

Defender - Nick Fenton - Serves final match of a suspension. Played 26 games with 2 goals.

New Signings

Midfield - James Hunt - With Pulis returning to Stoke, Grimsby have brought in Hunt, a midfielder from Bristol Rovers. Hunt has played 12 games for Bristol Rovers this season with 1 goal.

Defence - Simon Grand - The defender is an emergency loan from Carlisle United. Grand will stay at Grimsby for the rest of the season. He debuted in the 2-0 home defeat against Chester. Started 3 games for Carlisle and made 3 sub appearances this season.

Midfield - Nicky Rizzo - The left sided winger has joined Grimsby on a months loan from MK Dons. He debuted in the 2-0 home defeat against Chester. Started 1 cup game and made 4 substitute appearances for MK Dons this season.

[thehandicapman]

Scunthorpe are a temting price away at Cheltenham, the 2 players sent off on Saturday were a winger and a full back - would be interested to know how much of a loss these players will be.

THM

[Quandram]

Walsall are a fairly obvious pick for tonight and i think i'll be on the AH-1 or -1.25.

I don't have any stats to back it up but my gut frowns on the Half & Full for this one although i wouldn't be suprised to see it come in.

A little bit of stat work throws this up to be proved wrong tonight...

Walsall have kept a clean sheet in 77% of their home games
Walsall have scored > 1 in 62% of their home games
Walsall have been over 2.5 goals in home games 31%

Grimsby have conceeded > 1 in 62% of away games
Grimsby have fired blanks in 62% of away games
Grimsby have been over 2.5 goals in 46% of away games

That all adds up to 2-0 to me and i'll take a punt on the correct score as well.

[rcgills]

In addition to all of that, Quandram, of Grimsby's last 6 games, they've lost 5 of them without scoring, conceding at least 2 goals on each occasion (3 x 0-2, 1 x 0-3 and 1 x 0-4). The other game in those last 6 was a 2-0 win against Torquay, who are losing to almost everyone at the moment anyway (just 5 points from last 18 games). Some other bets to maybe consider (from Bet365) - Walsall to win to nil is 2.25, Walsall to score 3 or more is a pretty stingy 2.87 (they've only managed it twice all season), and Walsall to keep a clean sheet is 1.83.

[Quandram]

*cough*

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by rcgills

Walsall to win to nil is 2.25,
...
Walsall to keep a clean sheet is 1.83.

Actually, better than those 2 - Grimsby not to score (i.e. Walsall to keep a clean sheet) is 2.25 with Sporting Odds, while Sporting Odds also have only one team to score at 2.25 (i.e. you get Walsall to win to nil, same as with Bet365, but you're also covered if by some strange occurrence Grimsby manage to win to nil).

[Quandram]

good work RC

[Quandram]

I think that 2.25 for Only 1 team to score has to be taken. The odds-on for Grimsby to score makes a bit of stat sense if you look at all their games for the season but not their away games and especially not against a team as tight as Walsall.

1 team to score it is.

[Kop66]

Damn, i've gone the other way

Walsall v Grimsby

I’ve laid the 1-0 home win @ 7.4

It’s a dodgy one but my way of thinking is Grimsby haven’t scored a goal in their last 4 games, that is a lot of minutes on the pitch without scoring , I don’t think runs like that normally go much further than this in this league even for the bottom teams, so I’m hoping for a goal from them tonight. I know Walsall are solid in defence, especially at home but they are just back from a warm training break in the Canary Islands, they haven’t played since New Years Day and I’m hoping the back 4 might still be on holiday. I just think Grimsby might score tonight.

Even if Grimsby fail to hit the net and continue to play poor it wouldn’t be surprising to see Walsall hit 2 or 3, so that was my pick.

[Quandram]

Sounds like a 2-0 Walsall win and everyone's quids in










...who's got odds on Grimsby to score in the 1st minute :

[rcgills]

You just have to hope it's not a 0-0 though, Quandram. I've gone for the Grimsby not to score option at 2.25. Just seems too big a price, Walsall with just 5 goals conceded in 13 home games (the slight concern being that 4 of those have come in their last 3 homes), while Grismby have just 8 goals in 13 aways.

[thehandicapman]

Agreed with the above, under 16s are being let in for free tonight, so a good crowd and good atmosphere for the sky cameras.
Grimsby should be lambs to the slaughter. have just lumped on the home win though.

Cheltenham has signed striker - Paul Connor from Leyton Orient for £20,000. from the forums i've read, he doesnt sound too much to shout about. Orient were quite happy to get rid of the player who has only been a reserve for them this season. The goal he scored after coming off the bench on Saturday was his 2nd of the season. It will be a baptism of fire for Connor coming up against a very strong Scunthorpe defence but that depends on if he starts the game as he hasn't played more than the odd 10-15 mins for Orient for some time.

Although he picked up his 5th booking of the season on saturday, Scunthorpes top scorer - Billy Sharp will not miss the game against Cheltenham, serving his ban against Donny on Saturday.

Am still very keen on a Scunny away win

THM

[johnnybgood]

Team news ahead of tomorrow game

Accrington have signed Preston youngster Chris McGrail on a month's loan in time to face Mansfield.

The 17-year-old striker was on the bench for North End twice in recent weeks and is rated as a promising prospect at Deepdale.

Stanley boss John Coleman said: ``He's quick, aggressive and I've seen him play a few times. He scored against our reserves earlier this season.''

Stanley have also offered a five-figure sum for an unnamed Conference striker although defender Rikki Baines has been released by the club.

Defender Alan Rogers starts a three-match ban for his red card in the 2-1 defeat by Notts County at the weekend.

Coleman is still without defenders Peter Cavanagh (knee), Danny Ventre (fractured tibia) and Andrew Tretton (knee) as well as striker Leighton McGivern (ankle).

Mansfield manager Billy Dearden is set to stick with a winning side when he takes his team to the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

Dearden recorded his first win since returning to the Stags on Saturday with a fine 3-1 victory at Hereford and will again turn to new signings Barry Conlon and Martin Gritton up front.

Both scored on their debuts at Edgar Street and will keep their partnership intact although the pair are short of match fitness and may struggle with the effects of two matches in four days.

Simon Brown returns from a one-game suspension but will have to settle for a place on the bench.

Midfielder Stephen Dawson came through the full 90 minutes with no complaints after two months out with a back injury and should continue, while Danny Reet (ankle) is still some way short of a return.

To me it seems quite promising for Mansfield. Aint that deep in CC 2, but following lately Accrington struggling lately and Mansfield seems to be shaping. Experts views will be highly apreciated.