Accrington v AFC Wimbledon Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final second leg

[ian1964 10,413]

Is it ok to put this in here?,the obvious link being Josh Windass!.

 

 

Accrington boss John Coleman has no new injury worries as his side look to overturn a 1-0 deficit in their Sky Bet League 2 play-off semi-final against AFC Wimbledon, live on Sky Sports 1.

 

Coleman's side finished 10 points and three places ahead of Wimbledon in the table but are now up against it to reach the play-off final on May 30.

 

He could shuffle his pack after calling for a greater attacking threat than he saw in the loss in south west London on Saturday.

 

Both Terry Gornell and Shay McCartan will be pushing for recalls but Matt Crooks (ankle) remains sidelined.

 

"History tells you that I think it's only four times that a deficit has been overturned in League Two play-offs," Coleman told the club's website.

 

"Wimbledon are in the box seat but we could've drawn that game 0-0 and then conceded early in the second leg and been in exactly the same position.

 

"We know what we've got to do. Unless we were going through on penalties, we were always going to have to score and win on Wednesday regardless, so our mission hasn't changed."

 

Neal Ardley's Dons hold a narrow lead, but the manager has a number of decisions to make as they look to secure a trip to Wembley.

 

Tom Beere scored the dramatic winner at the Cherry Red Records Stadium but had come off the bench late on to great effect and now Ardley must decide whether to start with the 21-year-old.

 

Likewise, Ardley has a tough call to make on experienced striker Adebayo Akinfenwa, who also proved a game-changer when coming on for Tom Elliott.

 

There are no fresh injury concerns with George Francomb (knee) still missing, although Connor Smith could feature after returning to training following a neck injury.

 

"We have got to get ourselves ready for every scenario. There are 90 minutes to go and within two minutes of the game starting, it could be a totally different complexion," Ardley told the Dons' website.

 

"As a manager you know there are no away goals in this and there could be extra-time and penalties and you have to take these things into consideration.

 

"I will be looking to the boys who have gone through the play-offs before. I will be looking at them to influence the others, just as much as the staff can.

 

"There is no blame culture here and we are fighting hard for each other."

 

Watch Accrington v AFC Wimbledon on Wednesday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7:30pm.

 

http://www.skysports.com/football/accrington-vs-afc-wdon/355090

[TotalFootball 0]

I'll probably flick between this and the Liverpool game later.

 

It'll be the first time I get to see him play outside of highlights.

[Tannochsidebear 2,312]

I read the match thread on FF for the first leg and the virtually unanimous agreement (a very rare thing on any forum!) was that the standard was sunday morning pub league. Only for the die-hards I would imagine.

[ian1964 10,413]

I read the match thread on FF for the first leg and the virtually unanimous agreement (a very rare thing on any forum!) was that the standard was sunday morning pub league. Only for the die-hards I would imagine.

 

 

The match and result is means nothing to me either!,just if anyone wanted to have a look at Josh Windass,nobody has to watch it!

[Tannochsidebear 2,312]

I have been looking out for AS results since we signed the two lads, so take an interest from that angle that you want them to be fit (not had much luck there) and playing well at whatever level it is. I think it is akin to signing someone from the juniors. You might find a Bobby Russell once every 40 years, but the rest are at that level for a reason, and unless you have an emotional attachment to the clubs there, i dont think many neutrals would want to watch it.

 

That league probably still gets more tv money than our league, so go figure as they say!

[JTP 0]

I have been looking out for AS results since we signed the two lads, so take an interest from that angle that you want them to be fit (not had much luck there) and playing well at whatever level it is. I think it is akin to signing someone from the juniors. You might find a Bobby Russell once every 40 years, but the rest are at that level for a reason, and unless you have an emotional attachment to the clubs there, i dont think many neutrals would want to watch it.

 

That league probably still gets more tv money than our league, so go figure as they say!

 

The Juniors, really TB?

 

I've never seen them but I'd have thought more in line with our Championship level.

[TotalFootball 0]

The top half of the SPL is about League 1 level and the bottom half lucky to be that.

 

The gulf between English and Scottish football is massive.

 

I have no doubts whatsoever that players performing well in League 1 are good enough for the SPL.

[calscot 0]

The top half of the SPL is about League 1 level and the bottom half lucky to be that.

 

The gulf between English and Scottish football is massive.

 

I have no doubts whatsoever that players performing well in League 1 are good enough for the SPL.

 

I don't think it's possible to compare like that as it's two different animals. The EP receive about 100 times as much from television as the SP despite England only being about 10 times the population. Then the Championship hang on the coat-tails of that for another big payment. With all the trickle down effect it means that Scottish teams can't compete for the same players.

 

However, that does not largely affect the standard of local players and we should have players of all standards, except again, with a 10th of the population we will have less chance of producing top class players - about three times less all things being equal.

 

So straight comparisons are difficult with the biggest difference being the ability of the OF to compete when even a few years ago, the likes of Middlesbrough in the EC were buying up the best talent we had around our leagues.

 

So I think some of the top SPL teams are difficult to quantify in English league terms, especially as the English leagues are a bit mixed themselves, with promotion generally coming to who takes the most risks money wise for a couple of seasons. Not counting the OF, I think they might be better than some lesser Championship sides and worse than some top League One sides.

 

But it all shows how TV money is killing football in the smaller countries.

[Yorkshire Bear 0]

Andy Little on the bench for Accrington.

[Bearman 9]

Josh Windass has just made it 1-0 (1-1 agg) from the spot.