Stockport – Bristol City, English Division 2
2004-03-06 16.00 CET
Pick: Bristol City
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,90
Final reason for bet
· Bristol City is in good form even if they have not won for two matches.
· Bristol has an almost fully fit squad.
· Bristol is determined to stay at a direct promotion place.
· Stockport is in bad form.
General comment about the game
On Saturday promotion hopefuls Bristol City will travel to Edgeley Park to play against struggling Stockport. Bristol had an amazing run of eleven straight victories before they have dropped points in their two latest games. Currently they reside in second place in the table. In midweek they played at home to bottom of the table Wycombe. Wycombe defended very well during the whole match but Bristol should have done better with all the chances they created. We counted their opportunities to around 25 (some of them really good) against just a few for Wycombe. Bristol was also denied a penalty for handball that the referees amazingly did not see. So the game ended in a draw and that really disappointed the Bristol manager Danny Wilson. However, he thought that they played very good and could not see any wrong in their performance. Last weekend they played away to mid table team Sheffield Wednesday. Sheffield got away with all three points since they made the only goal in overtime. However, Bristol were the better team especially in second half when they created many good chances but all were denied; a brilliant save by the Sheffield goal keeper on Tommy Doherty’s fine 30 yard shot, striker Lee Peacock hit the crossbar with a bullet header and they were also denied a goal because the referee thought that striker Lee Miller played to tough by roughing his marksman. And in the dying minutes it was Sheffield that headed home the victory in a game that should have ended in at least a draw for Bristol. Despite the fact that Bristol has two straight matches without a win manager Wilson is confident that he and the players will not panicking in their bid for promotion. Defender Matthew Hill (29(2) apps, 2 goals) is ruled out of Saturday’s game because of the hamstring injury he sustained in the midweek clash against Wycombe. On the positive side, defender Tony Butler (25(1) apps, 1 goal) will be available again after he had to sit out the midweek game through suspension.
Relegation battlers Stockport is in really bad form. They have only managed three points from their latest eight games. There last victory was in beginning of January against bottom of the table Wycombe and before that we have to go back till November to find another victory for them. This is obviously not good enough if you try to stay put in the division. It seems like they have cemented themselves in the bottom, currently they reside in 23rd place five points below the drop zone. In midweek they played away to Colchester in a game that ended with one more defeat. However, Stockport was worthy a draw since they were the better team in the first half and also created some good chances in the second. Just after the break they took the lead but could not hold on to it and Colchester was allowed to turn the match around. Stockport will have to do without defender John Hardiker (31 apps, 0 goal) because of injury and striker Jon Daly (9(6) apps, 0 goal) through suspension. Manager McIlroy is hoping that striker Aaron Wilbrahan (21(9) apps, 7 goals) can shake off the knee problem he sustained in the Colchester clash.
We believe that Bristol City will bounce back on the winning track again on Saturday. They have played better than the results and they also need a new victory to hold Queens Park Rangers behind them in the table. Against a struggling Stockport they have a real chance of doing that and we are backing them with 3%.
Recent games for home team
|
2004-03-02 |
Colchester-Stockport |
2-1 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Stockport-Brighton |
1-1 |
|
2004-02-21 |
Notts County-Stockport |
4-1 |
|
2004-02-14 |
Stockport-Swindon |
2-4 |
|
2004-02-07 |
Wrexham-Stockport |
0-0 |
Recent games for away team
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2004-03-02 |
Bristol C-Wycombe |
1-1 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Sheffield-Bristol C |
1-0 |
|
2004-02-21 |
Bristol C-Wrexham |
1-0 |
|
2004-02-17 |
Grimsby-Bristol C |
1-2 |
|
2004-02-14 |
Peterborough-Bristol C |
0-1 |
Home table
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Stockport |
17 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
21-30 |
13 |
Away table
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Bristol C |
17 |
7 |
6 |
4 |
19-16 |
27 |
Links for this game
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Bristol C: |
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// SportsObserver 040305
