Match Preview | Forest Green Rovers v Argyle
Argyle are on the road for a second straight game as they head to The Bolt New Lawn to face Forest Green Rovers.
Curiously, the game is the fourth out of five so far in the new season where Argyle are playing against a team with a relatively new manager.
Ian Burchnall took over as Forest Green manager in the summer. He replaced Rob Edwards, who guided Rovers to the Sky Bet League Two title last season, but left in the summer to take over at Watford.
Burchnall did not have a professional playing career, but as a coach rose to the role of assistant manager at Norwegian club Sarpsborg 08, before taking a similar position at Viking, where he later became manager.
He joined Ostersund of Sweden as assistant to Graham Potter, and once again took over as manager following Potter’s exit. He joined Notts County as manager in March 2021, and twice took The Magpies to the Vanarama National League play-offs, before leaving to join Forest Green in the summer of 2022.
His first game in charge was away to fellow promoted side Bristol Rovers, where an 89th minute Regan Hendry goal gave Forest Green a 2-1 victory. Since then, FGR have lost 2-1 at home to Ipswich Town and drawn 1-1 away to Lincoln City. They were due to play Accrington Stanley on Tuesday, but a sudden downpour waterlogged the pitch, and the game was postponed.
Notable departures during the summer included Kane Wilson to Bristol City, Nicky Cadden to Barnsley and Ebou Adams to Cardiff. However, Forest Green have acted to bring in some experienced players, notably Reece Brown and David Davis in midfield, arriving from Huddersfield Town and Shrewsbury Town respectively.
Connor Wickham, a 29-year-old forward with over 100 Premier League appearances, with Sunderland and Crystal Palace, to his name, joined Forest Green after the season’s commencement, and made his Rovers debut last Saturday. He came off the bench with half an hour to go and scored the game’s equalising goal.
Forest Green’s captain is Jamille Matt, who has scored 39 goals in his two seasons with the Gloucestershire club. Matt had a short but very memorable spell at Argyle in 2016, joining on loan for the season’s run-in, and scoring seven goals in 14 appearances. Since then, he has played for Blackpool, Grimsby Town and Newport County.
Curiously, Forest Green Rovers are the only team Argyle have ever played just once in league action. Our visit to Nailsworth in November 2019 was in the season curtailed because of the pandemic, so Forest Green never had a chance to travel to Home Park.
It means we boast a 100% record against Forest Green – though admittedly from the smallest of sample sizes! Argyle won the match thanks to a goal by Antoni Sarcevic in a very hard-fought game, holding out in the second half against a Forest Green side who were top of League Two at the time.
Schumacher Says
“They’ll be tough opposition. They play some nice stuff. They’ve got good players and play a nice system of football, a nice way of playing.”
Argyle Team News
Mickel Miller, Conor Grant, James Bolton and Panutche Camara are still out with injury. James Wilson misses the game because of suspension following his sending off on Tuesday night at Charlton. Steven Schumacher has indicated that Nigel Lonwijk is likely to come into the side.
Tickets
We have sold out our allocation of tickets. Please do not travel to The Bolt New Lawn if you do not have a ticket for the game.
Argyle TV
Audio commentary of the game is available for £2.50 in the UK, and live video streaming is available for overseas supporters. Click here to see what is available in your region.
