Preview: Stevenage

20 April 2021

The big nights keep coming as tonight sees Cheltenham Town face their penultimate away fixture of the season with a trip to Stevenage (kick-off: 7pm).

Second place Cheltenham have a game in hand on a number of their counterparts at the top of the League Two table, but a trip to the Lamex Stadium is another vital one in the pursuit of securing the points required to gain automatic promotion to League One.

After a difficult start to the season Stevenage have enjoyed a progressive campaign in the division this term and will stand in Michael Duff's side's way this evening.

You can watch the match in full online by buying a match pass on iFollow.

Team news

There are no new injury worries for Michael Duff's side. Both Will Boyle and Chris Clements remain out until the end of the season.

Watch Duff's pre-match press conference, while defender Sean Long has also been speaking to the media.

Opposition

Without a win from their last three games, Stevenage will go into tonight's match with the pressure off knowing they'll be a League Two club again next season.

The Boro have done a great job after a summer last time out unsure whether they'd be competing in the National League or again in the Football League, while on the pitch they only registered one win in League Two from the beginning of the season all the way to the end of November having also suffered with some issues involving covid-19.

Over February and March though they went on a superb 12 match unbeaten run, a run that included wins over the likes of Forest Green and Carlisle United, and its played a key role in their 15th place position.

Chelsea youngster Jamie Cumming is the man they've been relying on in goal this season. It's the 21-year-olds first loan away from Stamford Bridge.

At the back they are guided by the experience of Luke Prosser and Scotsman Scott Cuthbert, with Joe Martin, who is back for his second spell at the club, providing useful experience in a full back area too.

There's further experience in midfield with the 35-year-old Chris Lines who transferred from Northampton Town in January. Tom Pett is another in his second stint with Boro having had a spell with Lincoln City in between, while Elliott List and youth team product Jack Smith could feature.

Former Swindon Town forward Luke Norris was another January arrival from Colchester United. Joining him at the top of the pitch could be 23-year-old Matty Stevens, who is on loan from league rivals Forest Green, and Jack Aitchison who is also on loan from Championship Barnsley.

The manager: Alex Revell

Alex Revell stepped up from his involvement with the under-18s as a coach at Stevenage to become manager and he's guided Boro in his first full season to a commendable mid-table position given some of the difficulties they've faced in recent times.

It's his first management job after a playing career that saw him feature as a striker for the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Leyton Orient, Rotherham United and Cardiff City.

He's assisted by the experienced Dean Wilkins, the former Brighton boss, while former England Women manager Mark Sampson is employed as first team coach.

One to watch: Elliott List

A tidy and tricky attacking player, Elliott List has been a ever present for Stevenage this season. In total he's appeared in 44 games in all competitions and has registered ten goals in the process.

At the age of 23 he's developing into a reliable player at League Two level having first linked up with Boro in August 2019, signing for an undisclosed fee.

He had started his career in League One with Gillingham having come through the youth set-up at Crystal Palace.

Watch the match on iFollow

Enjoy another crucial night in Cheltenham's League Two season by watching the match online in full with iFollow.

You can buy a match pass ahead of kick-off and subscribe to watch online.

Coverage

On social media you can stay up to date with everything as it unfolds at Stevenage. Follow @CTFCofficial on Twitter for team news, live updates and photos.

You can check out the club's Facebook page for score updates and live videos, while on Instagram there'll be information on the latest score and you can check out the Instagram story.

Post-match make a visit to the club website to read the match report and to watch Michael Duff's reaction to the final result.

And highlights will be available to watch when they are made available on iFollow.

Match Reports

Report & highlights: Stevenage 0-1 Robins

20 April 2021

Subscribe to watch

Stevenage v Cheltenham Town - Extended highlights - Tue 20th April 2021

Extended highlights of Stevenage v Cheltenham Town, Tue 20th April 2021 in the Sky Bet League Two

George Lloyd's first half goal handed Cheltenham Town a priceless first league win at Stevenage tonight.

The wait for a victory at the Lamex Stadium has lasted 22 years but this one was well worth it, boosting the Robins' promotion credentials.

But it wasn't pretty, not that Michael Duff cared about that. His side were the better of the two before the break and deservedly led at the interval but the hosts were a much tougher proposition in the second half and they had to dig in to chisel out the points.

With the top seven bar Forest Green Rovers winning, the promotion pack looked exactly the same as they did at the start of the day with only four now to go, starting with the visit of Colchester United this Saturday.

A play-off berth is now assured but tonight's win means only four more points from those final matches is likely to seal promotion to League One.

But it's tight and it's going down to the wire. How are your fingernails?

"I thought we were good in the first half but we didn't start the second particularly well," said Duff after the game.

"Because we're so good at seeing games out it almost becomes our default position but we need to be better with the ball.

"We need to be a bit more confident in each other and trust each other a bit more, given where we are in the league.

"It panned out to be a really tough game tonight.

"I'm delighted for George Lloyd because he worked hard for that goal, and I thought he was excellent again tonight."

Duff made a trio of changes here, effectively replacing his front three after the defeat by Crawley Town five days earlier.

In came Lloyd and Sam Smith up front to partner for only the second time this season, replacing Andy Williams and Alfie May who both dropped to the bench. Meanwhile Finn Azaz replaced Callum Wright in the role behind the front two.

There was an early penalty appeal involving Sean Long although his claims were waved away, but the Irishman produced the first meaningful chance of the game midway through the opening 45 minutes when his header was held.

Liam Sercombe released a stinging shot from fully 25 yards a few moments later but Jamie Cumming, the Stevenage number one, was alive to the effort and tipped it over.

The home side didn't really threaten before the break but there were a couple of warning signs for the Cheltenham defence when Elliott List and Luke Norris, the veteran campaigner, created openings on the break.

But Lloyd opened the scoring with the interval approaching, taking down a lovely ball by Conor Thomas and shooting on the turn to notch his fourth of the campaign.

Stevenage made a change at the break, replacing Joe Martin with Jack Aitchison, and they went on to do the lion's share of attacking in second half. The subsitute was a whisker away from drawing his side level but his heavily deflected effort from an angle down the left dropped a matter of inches wide of the right post.

Sercombe recorded his side's only effort of the second period on the hour, but his hooked effort from the edge of the box was saved by Cumming. At the other end Tom Pett drove wide of the target after nicking the ball off Matty Blair.

But Cheltenham defended manfully to restrict their opponents, seeing out the vital win ahead of this weekend's match against Colchester United.

STEVENAGE FC (4-4-2): Cumming; Hutton, Vancooten, Prosser, Martin (Aitchison 46); Smith (Osbourne 81), Pett, Lines, Coker; List, Norris. Subs not used: Johnson (Gk), Vincelot, Cuthbert, Williams, Stevens.

CHELTENHAM TOWN (3-5-2): Griffiths; Raglan, Tozer (c), Long; Blair, Thomas, Azaz (Chapmman 90), Sercombe, Hussey; Smith (May 90), Lloyd (Williams 90). Subs not used: Flinders (Gk), Freestone, Wright, Vassilev.

REFEREE: T Kettle