MF looks ahead to Spurs vs Cheltenham

Up for the Cup? No, didn’t think so.

With respect to Cheltenham the draw for the 3rd round has been kind to us. Given our battle weary troops an away trip to Premier League or Championship opposition would’ve been the last thing we needed. A home game against an albeit very excited and doing well League Two team gives Harry the chance to rest those in need of a break and reintroduce those who need reacquainting with first team action. It’s widely reported that Dawson and Lennon will start and presumably Kranjcar, Giovani, Rose, Corluka and if fit Pav will join them. Ideally youngsters with some experience, Carroll, Falque and Fredericks for instance could plug some of the holes though it’s a reasonable bet that there’ll a first teamer or two somewhere abouts, Defoe for one.

Some of the usual suspects are now away on loan so in the absence of Townsend, Kane & Mason, perhaps the likes of Parrett, Pritchard and even Coulibaye may get a turn on the bench at least. I’m presuming Huddlestone is still recuperating, the Huddle ‘fro must be big enough for several families of birds to nest in by now.

The Robins are second in League Two and don’t seem reliant on any particular individual. Darryl Duffy, Kaid Mohammed and James Spencer have been sharing the goals amongst them. Mark Yates seems like a down to earth sort of manager; giving the media what they want but no doubt behind the scenes capable of a stirring Henry V type effort.

The game seems like a distraction given the impending ‘game in hand’ match up with Everton on Tuesday but realistically it’s the start of the competition we’re most likely to win this season so we need to take it seriously. There’ll be a full house and no doubt the four thousand away fans will be wanting to make the most of their day out.

Games against Shamrock Rovers apart our ‘cup’ team has struggled to score. If we can be accurate in front of goal then we should be comfortable. If the normal jitters in the area return then it might be close, we should though of course still win. COYS.

By MF