THE STFC Christmas Advent-ure draws to a close this evening with the visit of table-topping Tranmere Rovers to SN1.
Football aside, the evening promises to be packed with entertainment, giveaways and prize draws designed to get The County Ground into the spirit of the season.
THE VIEW
Manager Paolo Di Canio believes that the League One leaders are there for the taking.
After registering all three points at Oldham last weekend, the Italian is targeting a pre-Christmas victory at SN1.
“I am very happy to be playing Tranmere this evening because they are a team who have had a fantastic first half of the season,” he said. “We know that they are a very solid side but they haven’t scored as many goals recently.
“They are missing a few players and have struggled a little bit, but they have a fantastic defensive record. They are at the top of the league and a win would put us in a very good position going into Christmas.
“Our last few results at home haven’t been as good as we would have liked so victory tonight is the target.”
THE STORY SO FAR
Tranmere have flown out of the blocks at the start of 2012/13 leading the way at the top of League One. Despite being knocked out of the Capital One Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, Rovers remained unbeaten in the league for the first two months of the campaign, losing their first match at AFC Bournemouth in October. Recently however, Ronnie Moore’s men have gone through a win-less spell in League One, last registering a victory on 10th November when they came away from Boundary Park with a 1-0 success.
LAST TIME OUT
Swindon have a remarkable record against the Merseysiders at SN1, suffering just three defeats in 30 league meeting between the sides. Rovers last won in Wiltshire in March 2006 when they came away with 2-1 victory. The last meeting between the two sides in January 2011 ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Arguably Town’s most memorable fixture with Tranmere at The County Ground was the 1993 play-off semi final first leg. A Steve Vickers own goal had Swindon 1-0 up inside two minutes. Just a minute later, Ross MacLaren’s fierce drive was spilled by the goalkeeper and Dave Mitchell scrambled home a second. Craig Maskell added a third just before the half hour while at the other end, John Aldridge had a goal chalked off. Johnny Morrissey’s strike on the hour set up a tantalizing second leg at Prenton Park. Town would eventually make it to Wembley and clinch promotion to the Premier League.
TICKETS
Tickets are still available for the Festive Friday fixture.
Call the STFC Box Office on 0871 876 1993 or drop in to buy your tickets in person. You can also buy online from the official ticketing site.
