Fast Track Imps seek Crewe Cuts

The Imps find themselves up a junction without a connection going in the right direction as they travel to the Railwaymen of Crewe. Now 22nd in the league, Jamie Clarke`s omission suggests Howe might well have been given another couple of weeks despite a tight hamstring. Yes there were positive signs, further improvements and chances aplenty on Tuesday, but alas the outcome was the same. A key injury early on led to another defeat at the foot of a former Imp goalscorers boot, whilst our forwards seemed unable to shoot.

So what positives are there to get us back on track? Well this one see`s the Imps, ranked 23rd of 24 away from home, up against the Railwaymen, ranked 21st at home with 32 goals on the board already this season. The Imps for our sins had no luck on Tuesday, whilst Crewe hopefully got the all theirs in one game as the Spireites missed two penalties in the first twenty minutes. They would win that game three two at Chesterfield suggesting the gods were on their side as the raiwaymen scored their way out of trouble again.

Realistically this has got a Crewe win written all over it with yet another out of form striker thanking his lucky stars that the Imps are next up. But the optimist in me suggests different, for despite Dario attempting to tighen his defence they still concede plenty at the back and like ourselves are a very young side. This is another game we can win and sooner or later that win will come. When it does it will spark a 3-4 game winning run and be just like the early days of The Enticer Graham Taylor who failed to win in his opening 11 games, then did not look back see Taylor - Murphy 1972-1990 here. Other than Graham Taylor, I can`t think of anyone better suited to the job than Sutton and Pearce the enforcer, to turn the Imps around.


League Positions

Imps 21st League 2
The Railwaymen 14th League 2

The Line-ups

The Imps.
Chris Sutton will play the same side as Tuesday, albeit with enforced substitute Chris Fagan set to start. With Howe gone, Clarke the spark, LJL and Connor out the only forward presence on the bench is Ian Pearce. Roll on January.

Formation 4 - 4 - 2
(G) Burch
(D) Lichay Watts Baker Hughton
(M) Herd, Kerr, S Clarke, Gordon
(ST) Fagan , Facey

Subs.
20 Paul Musselwhite (G), Heath (D) Kovacs (D) Brian Gilmour (M), Stefan Oakes (M) Gilmour (M), Brown (M)/Pearce (Str)

Form
Overall Record 22nd
P 19 W 5 D 3 L 11 F 12 A 25 GD -13 PTS 18
Away Record Pos 23rd
P 9 W 2 D 0 L 7 F 5 A 15 GD -10 PTS 6
Biggest Away Win Bradford City 2-0
Heaviest Home Defeat 0-3 Dagenham & Redbridge


Crewe Alexander Line Up
Dario Grady has seen his side win two on the bounce, one being an illusive home victory, and is set to name an unchanged side despite midfielders James Bailey and Steven Schumacher both coming back from injury. Zola the league`s top scorer is also eager to get back on the goal trail after a barren spell. Shaun Miller has also recovered from a groin injury but this game could come too soon for the forward.

Formation 5 - 3 - 2
GK 31 Steve Phillips
(D) 19 Westwood 2 Brayford 5 O'Donnell 12 Mitchell-King 23 Tootle
(M) Simon Walton 11 Grant 18 Murphy
(STR) 10 Zola 8 Donaldson

Subs
1 Collis (G) 3 Jones (D) 6 Ada (D) 27 Worley (D)
20 Shelley (D) 21 Chris Clements (M) 14 Moore (ST) James Bailey and Steven Schumacher could also be on the bench.


Form
Good job we are not playing them at the Bank as they have the 4th best away record in League 2.

Overall Record 14th
P 19 W 8 D 1 L 10 F 33 A 32 GD +1 PTS 25
Home Record Pos 21st
P 9 W 3 D 0 L 6 F 13 A 16 GD -3 PTS 9
Biggest Home Win 1-0 Hereford United, 2-1 Macclesfield Town, 2-1 Burton Albion
Heaviest Home Defeat 1-2 Dagenham & Redbridge, 1-2 Aldershot Town, 2-3 Bury, 2-3 Rotherham United, 1-2 Port Vale, 1-2 Morecambe


Heroes & Villains

Imps Hotshots
Rene Howe 5
Jamie Clarke 4
Chris Fagan 4

Imps Assists
3 Scott Kerr
2 Cian Hughton, Lenell John-Lewis
1 Stefan Oakes, Michael Gordon

Imps Card Collectors
Reds 3
1 Aaron Brown
1 Ian Pearce
1 Eric Lichaj

Yellows 37
6 Janos Kovacs
4 Scott Kerr,
3 Moses Swaibu, Shane Clarke, Rene Howe,
2 Anthony Pulis, Stefan Oakes, Andrew Hutchinson, Cian Hughton.
1 Khano Smith, Chris Herd Jamie Clarke Nathan Baker, Aaron Brown, , Dany Hone, Richard Butcher, Chris Fagan, Joe Heath, Sergio Torres.


The Railwaymen

Hotshots
Calvin Makongo Zola 10
Steven Schumacher 4
Joel Grant 4
Clayton Donaldson 3
Billy Jones 2
Shaun Miller 2

Assists
3 Joel Grant, John Brayford
2 Billy Jones, Shaun Miller, Clayton Donaldson,
1 Mat Mitchell-King, Stephen Schumacher,Asley Westwood
Byron Moore, Aman Verma, Danny Shelley

Card Collectors
Red Cards 2
1 Billy Jones, Patrick Ada
Yellows 15
2 Billy Jones, Shaun Miller, Ashley Westwood, Mat Mitchell-King
1 Calvin Makongo Zola. Luke Murphy, Patrick Ada, Harry Worley
Simon Walton, James Bailey, Aman Verma

Financials

Imps
Highest Gate 5527 Notts County
Lowest Gate 2569 Port Vale
Average Attendance 3740
Total Turnstile Clicks 37402

The Railwaymen
Highest Gate 6943 Port Vale
Lowest Gate 3446 Burton Albion
Average Attendance 4196
Total Turnstile Clicks 37768


Historic Head-to-Head V Crewe

Total P 101 W 38 D 28 L 35 F 190 A 175
Home P 51 W 24 D 18 L 9 F 121 A 72
Away P 50 W 14 D 10 L 26 F 69 A 103

Highs & Lows at Gresty Road

Highest Gate
26/12/1949 L 2-3 11,648 Div 3N
Lowest
11/04/1987 W 2-1 1,350 Div 4
Biggest Win at
25/01/1947 5-0 4,421 Div 3N
Biggest defeat
05/12/1931 1-8 5,356 Div 3N

Imps Hotshots V Crewe

9 Andy Graver
7 Harry Pringle
6 Harold Andrews


Record Appearance Holders V Crewe
16 Harry Pringle
12 George Whyte