AFC Bournemouth travel to the midlands on Tuesday night to face Paul Merson’s Walsall in the second round of the LDV.
Vital Quotes:
With Steve Fletcher making his 500th appearance for Bournemouth this weekend v. Doncaster, Drew Surman had this to say about the club captains record. ‘You know that if it goes up then it is definitely going to be flicked on because he is so big. And you can make little runs into the channels or through gaps and he will flick it in to your path so he makes a massive difference.’
Walsall Team News:
Walsall enter the LDV at the second round stage, having been given a bye in the first round, while Bournemouth had to fend off Aldershot Town to reach the second stage. This weekend saw the home team lose 2-1 at MK Dons, their goal coming from Eric Skora to draw them level in the 13th minute.
Player to watch: Matty Fryatt
Tracked by a host of championship clubs Matty Fryatt enteres this game with 8 goals to his name, his last coming in the FA Cup – a 2-1 away win at Merthyr Tydfil.
AFCB Team News:
Having played a weaker team in the first round 4-1 win over Aldershot, Cherries boss Sean O’Driscoll is likely to play with a stronger line-up, prehaps with Steve Fletcher (a goalscorer in last season’s 2-1 win at the same ground) making a longer appearance on his return from injury. The Cherries enter his game on the back of a 4-2 loss at Doncaster Rovers, with former Saddler loanee Drew Surman and Dani Rodrigues getting on the scoresheet.
Player to watch: Drew Surman
His first return to The Bescott Stadium since his loan spell last season, Saturday’s goalscorer Drew Surman will be looking to get on the scoresheet against his former club at the second attempt (having played against them once before at the Fitness First Stadium in August)……..if he plays.
Match Facts & Stats
In last season’s competitions, Bournemouth went out at the first attempt – a 3-2 loss at Shrewsbury Town. Walsall had to fight off Rushden in the first round, then Cheltenham before going out to Leyton Orient 1-0 in the southern quarter final. Last season’s winners were Wrexham Town, beating Southend in the Final.
Ref Watch:
The ref for our LDV match tomorrow night against Walsall is Steve Tanner. The Somerset based official is in his third year on the national referees list and has officiated for AFCB five times before including the Torquay League Cup match and our home defeat against Port Vale earlier this season plus two encounters last season.
Our last match with Tanner in charge was back in October when we lost 2-1 at home to Port Vale. We said in our report “The referee was getting considerable stick from the home crowd penalising the Cherries for every aerial challenge in the game (despite Vale being bigger than most of our lads and using quite a few elbows).”
“We were not impressed by Steve Tanner at all. He was too lax in the first half allowing Vale to try and bully us. The yellow cards should have been brought out sooner to stamp some authority on the game – had he done so then the opposition may have either been a man down or would have pressed less aggressively (and both would have suited us).”
Match Prediction:
Not an easy one at all, on a tuesday night away from home in a match that is likely to recieve a small attendance. Yes, we could go out, but we’ll try our best and fight for a place in the third round of our only other competition left after the league.
Next Fixtures:
AFC Bournemouth v. MK Dons
League One
Saturday 26th November – Kick Off 3:00pm.
