A midweek league fixture? Well, this is a welcome treat in a season where our League One business has been exclusively done on Saturdays so far. That weekend business isn’t quite paying out in points just yet, so we may as well start moonlighting on Tuesday nights – we haven’t been too shoddy at them in past seasons, and this year’s midweek cup games have been among our 2013/4 highlights to date.
Crewe is a town that looks much nicer in by night, because you can’t see much of Crewe. It is, however, a happy hunting ground for Boro’ so we’d be foolish to dismiss the place. That record at Gresty Road – in case you were wondering – reads two wins in two games. We are actually yet to lose to the Railwaymen in all four games against them; why would break the habit of a lifetime tonight? That’d be annoying.
OK, so we didn’t get what we wanted out of the trip to Walsall at the weekend but that can be put down to the two bob bits blamed by GW. Simon Heslop is someone that we need to play at the moment, so not having him at the Banks’s Stadium did not help matters. Here’s hoping he’s able to make his return tonight! And with Lucas Akins out suspended, let’s get the boy Burrow back into the side as well.
Oh, and if we could keep a clean sheet, that would be ace! Crewe have scored just the once in their three home league games – and with Francois Zoko maintaining his quite amazing record of putting the ball in the back of the net, it bodes well. Need more proof of that? We have never – that’s NEVER – failed to score against Crewe Alexandra. What was it we said a couple of paragraphs ago about not breaking lifelong habits…?
FIFA14 Verdict:
Boro’ line-up:
Day; Gray, Ashton, Jones, Hartley; Morais, Heslop, Smith, Freeman; Zoko, Burrow
We are very much confident that Simon Heslop is able to return to the team after a case of the two bob bits at the weekend, so we stuck him in alongside Smith in the middle. And no Akins meant we brought Burrow back into the fold, with Tounkara on the bench. Whatever we did, it seemed to do the trick as Boro’ put in a pretty good shift at Crewe to continue the 100 per cent record we currently have at Gresty Road.
From start to finish, Boro’ controlled the game and limited the hosts to sporadic attacks on the counter. Going forward, much of our threat came from out on the flanks with Freeman and Morais primarily responsible. But it was David Gray with the cross that led to the only goal of the game – no prizes for guessing who scored it! There were further chances but the one goal was enough. Stand out players? Heslop, Gray and Burrow.
Bookie Bashing:
The bookies seem tentative about this one, with the home and away win prices still sitting above evens. Boro’ can be found at 9/4, while Crewe are available at 7/5 if you’re quick. It seems as if the draw is being ignored, with 5/2 looking like the best price. If you’re feeling brave, Crewe HT Stevenage FT is 15s at BetVictor and braver still, Zoko to score first at 7s at Paddy Power. If he doesn’t score, however, it’ll be your fault! At the time of writing…
Team Tarot:
