Swindon head to Macclesfield this Saturday off the back of a disappointing defeat to Exeter on New Year’s Day.
Town conceded a penalty that, on second viewing, appeared well outside the area, with Jonathan Forte converting before Archie Collins scored his first professional goal from 25 yards to seal a 2-0 home defeat.
The Robins will be looking to bounce back against the Silkmen, who have had a slight upturn in results since the appointment of their new manager at the end of November.
The Oppo
The Cheshire club had only won twice all season before Sol Campbell’s appointment as boss – although he was in the stands for the third of those wins, on the day of his appointment, against Exeter.
Since then, they’ve only lost two in six and risen off rock bottom of the table and put themselves in with a shout of avoiding the drop.
Scott Wilson has been the man that has started to fire for the Silkmen – he’s scored three in their last three, including a match-winning double in their vital clash with Notts County, who now sit 24th, below Macclesfield.
Head-to-head
Swindon have only played Saturday’s opponents seven times in their history but the last time out was by far the most memorable.
Michael Doughty’s last-gasp debut hat-trick with two penalties in injury time sparked pandemonium at the County Ground back in August on the opening day of the season as Town grabbed a 3-2 win.
Town’s previous win over the Silkmen came in 2012 – Paul Benson scored that day with the only goal of the game.
23 Dec 2006 Macclesfield Town v Swindon Town L 2-1 League Two
27 Jan 2007 Swindon Town v Macclesfield Town W 2-0 League Two
30 Sep 2011 Macclesfield Town v Swindon Town L 2-0 League Two
21 Jan 2012 Swindon Town v Macclesfield Town W 1-0 League Two
03 Nov 2012 Swindon Town v Macclesfield Town L 0-2 FA Cup
09 Nov 2013 Macclesfield Town v Swindon Town L 4-0 FA Cup
04 Aug 2018 Swindon Town v Macclesfield Town W 3-2 League Two
The Gaffer
Probably the biggest name in League Two – Sol Campbell’s playing career boasts Premier League titles, FA Cups, League Cups, as well as 73 England caps. He is regarded as one of the best English centre-backs of his generation and was part of the Invincibles – the Arsenal side that went unbeaten in the Premiership in 2003/04.
Since ending his days as a player in 2012, Campbell has been increasingly vocal about British politics and in February 2015, he announced his intention to run for Mayor of London. However, he was not shortlisted.
Campbell has spoken out about issues such as racial diversity in the FA as well as party politics during the 2015 election campaign.
Since taking the reigns at Moss Rose, Campbell has had a positive impact making them tougher to beat – the Silkmen have only lost two since his arrival.