NEXT HOME GAME - TBC
NEXT AWAY GAME - SUPPORTERS XI ARE PLAYING WORCESTER AT MALVERN ON SUNDAY AUGUST 3rd AT 3.00pm

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Opposition Preview: Part 3

Mansfield - 40/1 - Finished last season with a 5-0 thumping by Cheltenham rounding off a disappointing season. Having retained the services of 18-goal striker Richard Barker, they have only tinkered with the squad in the close season after some major mid-season surgery shortly after the Bulls dumped them out of the LDV.

MK Dons - 11/1 - The club they love to hate have been on a downward spiral since leaving Wimbledon. A new stadium is on it's way, and the cash is free flowing from Pete Winkleman's pockets. With Martin Allen at the helm, prised away from a successful Brentford side, big things are expected in their final season at the National Hockey Stadium.

Notts County - 40/1 - The oldest club in the League remained so by only three points last season as ongoing money problems forced six players out in the January transfer window. New boss Steve Thompson has signed 12 new faces, though the quality has been debatable, and the squad appear to have gelled with a reasonable pre-season but few expect much different than last year.

Peterboro - 16/1 - Life is never dull with Barry Fry about. Three managers last season, and complaints that Fry interfered in team selection cost the Posh a play-off place. New boss Keith Alexander, with three failed play-off campaigns with Lincoln, seems yet to have made his mark on the side and appears a couple of signing short to be amongst the early runners.

Rochdale - 40/1 - The only side not to have left the division by either door since the Bulls departed the league, they have a paper-thin squad and are expected to make no real improvement on the mid table finish of last season with practically the same, if smaller, squad.

Shrewsbury - 20/1 - Robbing your near rivals of three of their best players is the best way to signal your intentions for the new season, with Chris Mackenzie, Ben Davies, and Stuart Drummond all moving south down the A49. The squad has been trimmed for quality rather than quantity and, while the football may not be the most enjoyable to watch, it is certainly effective and the Shews are expected to improve vastly on last season's mid table finish.