Ebbsfleet United v Forest Green Rovers

Ebbsfleet look to extend their unbeaten home record to six games on Saturday as play-off hopefuls Forest Green Rovers visit Stonebridge Road.

This is not the only thing the Fleet will be looking to extend to six either. On home soil, the Fleet are unbeaten this season against all of the top five clubs in the Blue Square Premier, the strugglers will be looking to make it unbeaten at home against all top six clubs. Grimsby, Newport, Wrexham and Kidderminster have all come to Stonebridge Road and played out to one all draws, while Mansfield came and lost 3-1, after going a goal up.

Forest Green Rovers FC
 Founded - 1890 (as Nailsworth and Forest Green)
Nicknames - Rovers, FGR.
Ground - The New Lawn
Manager - Dave Hockaday
Captain - Jared Hodgkiss
Top scorer - James Norwood (14)

　


Forest Green have never been out of Non-League. In the early years, the Club were founder members of the Mid Gloucestershire League and the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. In 1968, the Club were founder members of the Gloucestershire County League. They ended their spell in this league in 1975, when they were promoted to the Hellenic League. Their manager at the time was former Arsenal player Peter Goring. Goring made over 200 appearances for Arsenal in a spell spanning eleven years. 1981 saw Rovers win the FA Vase final at Wembley, beating Rainworth Minors Welfare in the final, and the Club also won the Hellenic League. A name change occured in 1989 as the Club switched to Stroud FC in an attempt to 'revitalise' the Club. The Club become more unstable financially and changed back to Forest Green Rovers in 1992 when the Club were taken over by Trevor Horsley. Back-to-back promotions in the late 90's brought Rovers to where they are now, the Conference Premier. Rich chairman Dale Vince will be hoping he can take Forest Green to the next level.

Rovers fans will be fairly disappointed with their season so far. With the money, and squad that they have, they really should be challenging for the title. As it stands, Rovers are outside of the play-offs by four points. Victory in this match will install added belief into the players and fans, especially if Grimsby continue their recent bad run of form that they are on! It's been a disappointing season on the Cup front for Rovers, crashing out of the FA Trophy in the second round to Gainsborough Trinity. They made it into the first round proper of the FA Cup after beating Dartford away 1-4 in a replay. Rovers come up against League Two promotion contenders Port Vale at the New Lawn. Unfortunately, a winner ten minutes from time game Vale a 2-3 victory.

The Fleet have been unlucky lately, as their last two matches have fell victim to the weather. First of all, Barrow away was postponed Saturday morning and then Luton was called off over twenty four hours before kick-off. Both matches have been rescheduled - Barrow for Wednesday 3 April with a 7:45pm kick-off, and Luton is two days before season end; Thursday 18 April, 7:45pm kick-off. Of course, the postonements mean that the last time the Fleet were in action was when they managed to grab an impressive draw at Cambridge United. On-loan striker Matt Godden put the visitors ahead, but man of the match Harrison Dunk rescued a point for the hosts ten minutes from time.

Rovers have had an even longer spell without a game. You'll have to go back to Friday 15 March when Forest Green last played; a 1-2 defeat to title contenders Mansfield Town. An Eddie Oshodi own goal and a Lee Stevenson goal put the Stags two up before top scorer James Norwood gave the hosts a fighting chance with a goal three minutes from time. The Stags held out for the victory.


INVOLVED WITH BOTH:

 When you mention the name Magno Vieira to Ebbsfleet fans, they'll automatically think goals. The striker spent a season in Kent in 2009/10 and came so close to helping the Fleet escape relegation. The Brazilian scored sixteen goals in fourty one appearances for the Fleet and it wasn't just his goals that the fans loved, but his overall play. His work rate was excellent. The striker has already said his season with the Fleet was one of the best he has experienced in Football. The striker spent two seasons at Fleetwood Town before moving to Rovers last summer. Although he's not got many goals for Rovers, the fans believe there is more to come from Magno and they too believe his work rate is good. Another player who has played for both is current Fleet striker Liam Enver-Marum, who spent a brief spell at Rovers before joining the Fleet. Former Fleet midfielder Liam Coleman also had a short loan spell at Rovers before he joined the Fleet in 2006.


KEY PLAYERS:

 The Fleet look to Matt Godden to fire them to victory. The youngster, on loan from Scunthorpe, has been in fine form since returning to the Fleet on loan and will look to continue his goalscoring that has made him a fan favourite in just eight games. Centre-back and captain Paul Lorraine will need to be on form if the Fleet are to get anything. The Forest Green attack will be looking to bombard the Fleet goal and Lorro, and the other defenders will need to be at their best to stop them.

Rovers look to winger James Norwood as one of their better players. The youngster has hit fourteen goals this season and has not long signed a new deal with the Club. If Rovers are to push for promotion they will be hoping Norwood stays fit as he's a massive part of the side. Rovers will also look to on-loan striker Wes Burns. Although he's only played a part in two games since signing from Bristol City, he scored the winning goal away at Southport in the last minute of the match and looked impressive on his home debut against Mansfield. He will be keen to help Forest Green as they look to sneak into the play-offs as well as impressing his parent club, who look to be heading down to League One next season.


TEAM NEWS:

Long-term absentee Moses Ashikodi is edging closer to full fitness. The striker has been back in training for a while now and will be hoping he can break into the squad and help the team in their fight for survival. On-loan defender Jack Saville will be in contention soon, and right back Craig Stone is still out with an ankle injury.

Forest Green's injury list is about as long as Arsenal's run without a trophy. Fan favourite Reece Styche was ruled out for ten months with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage while creative midfielder Stephen Brogan is out for the season too. Defender Jamie Turley has been out of action, but is hoping to return soon. Rovers would have missed him as he's been named the England C player of the year and has been a key player in their season. Forward Omar Koroma has been out long-term after signing in the summer and midfielder Jamie Collins has been missing for large parts of the season. Ben Wright has been out of action for a while, and has been loaned out to former Club Braintree to gain some match fitness. Defenders Arran Racine and Dale Bennett have been injured short-term and could be in contention to return to the squad soon. Former 'Fleet striker Magno Vieira has also been missing from the Rovers' squad lately with an injury. One player who will be in the squad for the trip to Stonebridge Road is Reece Connolly. The striker has signed on loan from Blue Square Bet South side Farnborough. The former Aldershot player has hit 32 goals in 61 games for Farnborough and will be looking to make an impact as soon as he can.


EBBSFLEET'S LAST SIX MATCHES (DWLDLL):

Cambridge United 1-1 Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United 4-1 Southport
Alfreton Town 3-0 Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Newport County
Wrexham 4-1 Ebbsfleet United
Kidderminster Harriers 3-2 Ebbsfleet United


FOREST GREEN'S LAST SIX MATCHES (LWDLDL):

Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Mansfield Town
Southport 1-2 Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Barrow
Forest Green Rovers 0-1 Grimsby Town
Cambridge United 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
Woking 2-0 Forest Green Rovers


PREVIOUS LEAGUE MEETINGS:

The Fleet and Forest Green have met numerous times in the last eleven years, with the Fleet edging the head-to-head with six wins to FGR's five. Eight encounters have ended in a draw.

04.09.12. Forest Green Rovers 4-1 Ebbsfleet United
06.04.12. Forest Green Rovers 3-1 Ebbsfleet United
27.08.11. Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Forest Green Rovers
23.01.10. Ebbsfleet United 4-3 Forest Green Rovers
12.09.09. Forest Green Rovers 0-0 Ebbsfleet United


MEMORY MATCH:

Saturday 23rd January, 2010. Ebbsfleet United 4-3 Forest Green Rovers.

The Fleet came back from behind three times before Leon Crooks rose up at the death to give the Fleet three vital points in their battle against relegation. On-loan striker Daniel Powell twice gave Rovers the lead, before Isaiah Rankin put them 2-3 up from the spot. Magno Vieira twice levelled for the Fleet and a Stefan Bailey goal eleven minutes from time looked to give the Fleet a share of the spoils until the last minute of the match. A Scott Ginty cross was met by the grateful head of Leon Crooks, and his first league goal since August gave the Fleet all three points.

Attendance: 790.


LAST TIME OUT:

Tuesday 9th September, 2012. Forest Green Rovers 4-1 Ebbsfleet United.

Forest Green went top of the league as they destroyed strugglers Ebbsfleet. Phil Walsh gave the visitors a surprise lead in the twelth minute with a rocket from outside of the box, but this only brought the hosts to life. Four goals within the next twenty five minutes gave the hosts three points. Yan Klukowski, Matty Taylor, Ben Wright and Eddie Oshodi with the goals.

Attendance: 914.


HOW THE BOOKIES SEE IT:

William Hill have the Fleet to win at 7/4 with Rovers at 11/10 favourites. A draw for this match sees ods of 5/2. If you fancy Rovers to grab another 4-1 victory then the odds for that are 33/1.

Bet Victor have the Fleet to win at 27/10 with Rovers coming in at 21/20. Bet Victor also have odds for a draw at 5/2. If you fancy Nathan Elder to grab the first goal then you can get odds of 5/1.

Blue Square have the Fleet to win at 11/5 with Rovers coming in at Evens. A draw for this match sees odds of 5/2. If you fancy Rovers to score in both halves then you can get odds of 21/10.