Swindon Town will welcome Plymouth Argyle to the County Ground as the Reds continue to search for their first home victory of 2021.
The lads have enjoyed some strong performances and results on their travels since the turn of the year, recently recording a 2-2 draw against promotion hopefuls Charlton Athletic.
While the Town were not fully satisfied with the singular point, having raced into a two-goal first-half lead courtesy of Hallam Hope and Matty Palmer, the Reds can take heart from another strong display against a very impressive side.
However, all focus will shift towards the more familiar and comforting setting of the County Ground where the Town have recorded four of their six league wins of the season.
Their last home match was another battling encounter against fifth place Doncaster Rovers, who were only just able to hold on to their 2-1 lead after Hope halved the deficit and set up a very tense finish to the affair.
Town have been rejuvenated and restrengthened with January reinforcements in the form of Mark Travers, Dominic Thompson, Connor Masterson, Kieron Freeman also with the return of Scott Twine and Matty Palmer. The Reds have been further boosted by the signing of new promising striker Tyrese Omotoye from Norwich City.
The Belgian forward arrived into Wiltshire on Monday and will be eager to hit the ground running for his new team.
The Opposition:
Ryan Lowe’s side have been very busy in 2021 and their visit to the County Ground will be their sixth game in January.
As well as taking seven points from their last three matches at home to Gillingham, Crewe Alexandra and most impressively a 2-1 away victory against Sunderland, they also knocked Huddersfield Town out of the FA Cup beating the Terriers 3-2, and narrowly lost to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round.
Like Swindon, they have also been very busy in the January transfer window, securing the signings of Wolves and Liverpool U23 players Niall Ennis and Adam Lewis respectively, as well as Rubin Wilson from non-league Dorchester Town.
Plymouth were promoted into League One at the same time as Swindon, finishing in 3rd place and avoiding the tense play-off affair.
They have adapted to the new, stronger surroundings very well and currently sit in 14th position with eight points separating them from the dreaded dotted line.
In November, they beat Swindon at Home Park in an entertaining affair which finished 4-2 to Lowe’s side.
They are likely to set up in a similar way to the reverse fixture, opting to play with a 3-5-2 formation, with the wing-backs Joe Edwards and Conor Grant providing the width and service to Ryan Hardie and Luke Jephcott.
It is the latter who Swindon will have to keep a very close eye on, as Jephcott not only tops the Argyle scoring charts, but is also the joint highest goal-scorer in the division with 13 league goals in 19 appearances.
Team news:
There is no new injury news as Fryers, Baudry, Broadbent and Grounds remain sidelined. Ellis Iandolo is working his way back and will hopefully feature in the coming weeks. Rob Hunt has served his three-match ban sustained against MK Dons and is available for selection. New boy Tyrese Omotoye is also available for selection ahead of tonight's match.
