TOWN face a trip to the seaside this weekend as they travel to the Goldsands stadium to take on AFC Bournemouth.
Swindon go into the game off the back of three victories which saw them score 14 goals. Both sides are among the top three form sides in the division with only Brentford dividing them; a statistic that should make for an entertaining afternoon of football.
THE VIEW
Manager Paolo Di Canio is targeting a victory when the two sides meet at the Goldsands Stadium this Saturday.
“If we can win the game on Saturday then that would be an amazing lift for everybody,” he said. “Even a draw would be good, but we will go there to try and win. More than three points are at stake this weekend.
“Bournemouth look like us last season – they have very high confidence and have been on a fantastic run. You can see the manager’s hand in their play and they use very well the wide areas too.
“If we play with the determination that we have done over the past few games then maybe we can be the first team for a few weeks to hurt them.”
THE STORY SO FAR
Bournemouth top the League One form table after going a massive 17 games unbeaten since the return of Eddie Howe in October. The manager returned to the south coast with Bournemouth sitting 20th in League One and he has since overseen their meteoric rise to 7th in the table.
The Cherries won seven of Howe’s first ten games in charge and recorded four straight league victories in December. After drawing 0-0 at Brentford on New Year’s Day, they held Premier League side Wigan Athletic in their FA Cup Third Round tie at the DW Stadium last weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cherries found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-0 hammering on their visit to SN1 in September with goals from Andy Williams, Adam Rooney and a double from Matt Ritchie sealing the win.
Town have a fairly dismal recent record at Dean Court having not won there since 1990. On their last trip to the south coast, goals from Paul Caddis and Matt Ritchie could not prevent a 3-2 reverse.
Jon Gittens and Fitzroy Simpson were the goalscorers on that afternoon in April 1990 as Town edged closer to a Division Two play-off spot.
TICKETS
Town will be backed by a sell-out away attendance of over 1,300 fans at Dean Court.
