Next Up: AFC Wimbledon Away

After another enforced week off thanks to the weather, City will hopefully be fresh for a trip to the Smoke on Saturday as Paul Tisdale’s side takes on AFC Wimbledon aiming to turn around the recent alarming form. The extra week off should have given Matt Gill time to recover fully from his recent injury, while skipper Danny Coles will look to keep his place in the heart of City’s defence having returned to the side at Bristol Rovers a fortnight ago. Tom Nichols and Alan Gow will expect to continue up front.

Following a 0-0 draw away to leaders Scunthorpe last week while City were inactive, AFC Wimbledon go into Saturday’s fixture ahead of City on goal difference having played one game more. Neal Ardley’s side has had something of an up and down season, making a strong start before going off the boil, the Dons’ win at Wycombe on January 4th their only win since November. Defender Darren Jones has signed on loan, and he will go straight into the side to face City, while Michael Smith will be the main weapon up front, topping the scoring charts with 10 goals in all competitions.

Saturday’s match will be just the second time City have visited Kingsmeadow (a return to their spiritual home of Plough Lane in the pipeline), last season’s encounter ended 2-2, Jamie Reid notching his first goals for City, Luke Moore equalising twice for the hosts. The return of this fixture back in August saw a comfortable home win (remember those?), with a brace from John O’Flynn securing the points. Overall City hold a 2-0 head-to-head lead, with just that draw at Kingsmeadow last season.

Paul Tisdale on the Wimbledon game:-

We’ve had some really good games against Wimbledon. I know they play a lot of football on their pitch because they groundshare with Kingstonian, and now we’re in the middle of the season when pitches are going to be rather worn.

I think it’s going to be a game for an all-action approach.  Last year’s April game was a fantastic end-to-end game when we thought we had won it but Jamie was given offside.

Match Officials: http://www.exeweb.com/2014/01/21/match-officials-away-to-afc-wimbledon-2/