Forest Green v Stevenage preview
Monday 20 August 2018 15:56, UK
Forest Green Rovers will be without captain Gavin Gunning as they welcome League Two high-flyers Stevenage to the New Lawn.
Gunning was sent off with 15 minutes remaining of their match against Bury, in which they conceded a 90th-minute equaliser.
That will force Rovers manager Mark Cooper into at least one change. He was unhappy with their performance against Bury and so may look to make more tweaks to his side. "Individually players have got to do better," Cooper said after the Bury draw.
Stevenage sit third in the League Two table and head to Forest Green with both sides looking to preserve an unbeaten league record. Manager Dino Maamria hinted he would have to assess the fitness of his squad as they face their fourth game in 10 days.
"The games are coming thick and fast," Maamria said. "We have got to be careful, we have to make sure everybody is fit, everybody is hungry, everybody is determined." Striker Ben Kennedy is pushing for a start after impressing off the bench in their weekend win against Morecambe.
Opta stats
Forest Green and Stevenage have only met twice before in the Football League, and Rovers came out on top in both (2-1, October 2017 and 3-1, February 2018).
Since back to back wins in April 2018, Forest Green have only won once in their last six league games (D3 L2).
Stevenage have won two of their last four away games in the league (L2), as many victories as in their previous 17 such matches.
Christian Doidge was involved in 46% of his teams' league goals last season (25/54) and has started this campaign in equally good form, scoring three in his three games for Forest Green so far.
Mark Cooper has won his previous three matches against Stevenage in the Football League, including a league double over the Boro with Forest Green last season.
