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The Bulls make one of the shorter trips on Saturday when they visit Cheltenham for a League Two match.
The two sides shared a 1-1 draw at Edgar Street in mid-November with Mathieu Manset scoring the Bulls goal on the stroke of half time, only for Jeff Goulding to equalise midway through the second half. The Robins are yet to beat the Bulls in the Football League after five attempts, with their best results being a pair of draws. Last season at Whaddon Road Ryan Green scored a rare goal as the Bulls earned a narrow win with ten men after James McQuilkin was sent off.
The Robins have slipped off the play-off pace in recent weeks and now sit mid-table, five points short of seventh place. Their home matches are often short of goals with just 16 scored and 15 conceded in 13 games, and they have won just one of their last six home games. That 4-0 win over Bradford has been followed by losses to Wycombe, Lincoln, and Accrington. Top scorer Wes Thomas has 14 goals, with Goulding on nine, while former Bulls loanee Brian Smikle has promised the press this week he wants to end his goal drought sooner or later. The former West Brom trainee hasn't scored for 13 games after setting himself a ten goal target in his first full Football League season.
The Bulls travel to Gloucestershire on the back of two disappointing home games, but they have earned more points - and scored more goals - on the road than at Edgar Street. Only League One Sheff Weds have stopped the Bulls winning on the road from five trips in 2011. With Michael Townsend missing after his comments on the referee's performance on Tuesday night, Jamie Pitman will have to decide whether to put Dan Preston into the centre of defence, or drop Richard Rose into the backline. One of Preston's appearances for the Bulls last term was the winning trip to Whaddon Road, where he formed a central defensive partnership with Rose.
Cheltenham Town vs Hereford United, Whaddon Road, Saturday 12th February, 3.00pm.
