Football VAVEL

Fleetwood Town vs Accrington Stanley preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch

Fleetwood Town look to take another step towards League One safety as they host an out of form Accrington Stanley in a Lancashire derby on Saturday afternoon at the Highbury Stadium.  Kick-off is at 15:00 BST.

Fleetwood Town vs Accrington Stanley preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch
Photo by Kevin Barnes/ Getty Images
stuartm02
By Stuart McCracken

Fleetwood Town look to take another step towards League One safety as they host an out of form Accrington Stanley in a Lancashire derby on Saturday afternoon at the Highbury Stadium.  Kick-off is at 15:00 BST.

The Cods currently sit in 19th position only one point above Gillingham in the drop zone as they look to build on their current three game unbeaten streak.

Stanley currently sit in 14th position with no threat of relegation or chance of promotion but will be keen to win this Lancashire derby for their travelling faithful.

  • Team news

The hosts will once again be without midfielder and club captain Jordan Rossiter due to injury.

The Cod Army will also continue to be without Danny Andrew, who has scored six goals this season, due to a hamstring injury.

Accrington will be without key central defender Ross Sykes once again as he sits out the final match of his suspension. 

They will also miss midfielder Harry Pell as he went off midweek with a foot injury which is likely to keep him out for the rest of the season.

Other than those two players, the travelling side will have a full squad to pick from including Joe Pritchard who has been eased in after his time on the side-line.

  • Predicted lineups

Fleetwood Town: Cairns, Nsiala, Clarke, Jules, Johnson, Camps, Batty, Lane, Macadam, Harrison, Pilkington

Accrington Stanley: Savin, Rodgers, Nottingham, Rich-Baghuelou, Clark, Leigh, Butcher, Hamilton, McConville, Pritchard, Bishop

Last time out The Cods drew 1-1 at Highbury Stadium against Lincoln City thanks to a goal from midfielder Daniel Batty.

Fleetwood are unbeaten in their last three games, grabbing five points from a possible nine.

However, two of those three games were draws at home against sides around them which if they were turned into wins would have given The Cods' fans less to worry about.

Stanley’s recent poor form continued midweek as they fell to a three goal defeat at the hands of promotion favourites Wigan Athletic

Stanley’s last win was an impressive 2-1 win at home to Charlton Athletic back on March 12, since then they have failed to pick up three points on five straight occasions.

Stanley’s travelling fans will be hoping to end the nine game winless run away from home as well as hurting their Lancashire rivals' survival hopes as they make the 52 mile trip across to Fleetwood. 

  • Ones to watch

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21-year-old attacking midfielder Paddy Lane has been a key man for the Cod Army this season providing eight assists and scoring five goals himself in League One.

The young man got a deserved first call up for the Northern Ireland national team in the last international break, playing 61 minutes in his first international cap against Hungary.

The young man will be hoping to get back among the goals again this weekend after not scoring in his last eight appearances, to help Fleetwood stay in the division.

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Stanley midfielder Tommy Leigh has quietly been going about his business this season with six goals this campaign for the Englishman.

The 21-year-old has three goals in his last three but also a red card in that time but if the youngster is given freedom behind striker Colby Bishop many of the home faithful believe he can continue this hot form in front of goal and be a key man next season.

Many fans were perplexed when he didn’t start midweek after scoring two goals last weekend against Cheltenham Town but they will be hoping he can be the keyman once again against Fleetwood this weekend. 

  • Previous meetings

Stanley will be hoping for a repeat of the reverse fixture this weekend as the last time these two sides met Stanley ran out 5-1 winners at the Wham Stadium.

 

This was Stanley’s biggest margin of win this season and saw Colby Bishop and Ethan Hamilton bag braces and Liam Coyle get on the scoresheet.

Fleetwood will be hoping home advantage will be key as they look to get revenge for that humiliating derby defeat.

Overall, Accrington have won seven of the 13 games the two sides have ever played with The Cods only winning four. 

  • Where to watch on TV

This game isn’t being broadcast live on TV but each set of fans can listen to the game using their club’s iFollow service and fans outside of the UK and Ireland can watch  the game using this service.