No longer a s-Joke? Match Preview

By 4two
August 21 2003

The top of the league - Stoke City, come to town this weekend, for what should be a good game between two sides who have started off the campaign well. Moor Green Vs Saddlers Preview

Saddlers Vs Potters
Date: Saturday 23rd August Location : Bescot, Walsall Kick Off: 3:00pm
Latest
	Hopefully Stoke have sorted their membership scheme out, and they will bring more than they did last year. Anything between 6500-8500 on the day.
	Plenty available. Cheapest tickets in the Lower Purple for £9 and £6. Buy early to get them cheap.
	Those naughty boys from Stoke will struggle to get a beer. Usual places for the Saddlers.
	Two great chippies, one outside Morrisons, the other next door to the Fulbrook. The Bescot and the Broadway Chippies.
	The Stadium has its own Station - The Bescot Stadium Station.
	The ground is signposted from J7, J9 0r J10. J9 is the closest, as fans can just head for the Morrisons supermarket and turn right at the second set of traffic lights near the retail park.
	The 405 service runs from Bescot Stadium to Bradford Place Bus station( Vice Versa)

The Opposition

Manager	Tony Pulis
Assistant Manager	Lindsay Parsons
Physio	Rick Carter
In's	Noel Williams, Williams, Russell, Asaba, De Goey, Eustace, Hill.
Out's	Peter Handyside, Bjarni Gudjonsson, Lee Mills, Mark Williams, Steve Banks
Star Man	John Eustace
All Time Great	Sir Stanley Matthews

Last 5 Seasons..
Walsall	Season	Stoke
16 - D1	2002/2003	21 - D1
18 - D1	2001/2002	5 - D2 - P
4 - D2 - P	2000/2001	5 - D2
22 - D1- R	1999/2000	6 - D2
2 - D2 - P	1988/1999	9 -D2

Walsall - Stoke Links

There are plenty of links between the two sides. Current fans will remember Kyle Lightbourne, Bryan Small and Gavin Ward turning out for the two sides, while forwards Louis Donowa, Keith Bertschin and Wayne Clarke have also done the same. Ian Brightwell spent a short spell at Stoke after leaving Walsall while Graham Fenton was unable to save Walsall from Relegation in the 99/00 season. Derek Statham went on to finish his career at the Bescot Stadium in the early 1990s, and the other players to play for both sides are Dave Bamber, Noel Blake, Peter Bullock, Alex Maclure, Willie Macintosh, Graham Matthews, Albert Mullard, Billy Pole, Mark Prudhoe, Jimmy Robertson, Ronnie Sinclair, Alex Smith, Steve Waddington, Johnny Walker, Ray Wallace, Dennis Wilshaw, John Woodward. (Taken from TheSaddlersFC guide to Stoke City FC)

Walsall Team News
	News: Jamie Lawrence is certainly out with a foot injury, The back 3 is back to normal and Lee is likley to field the same team he did against Coventry.
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	One to Watch: Jim Walker was the star man at Coventry, and Stoke haven't been goal shy so far this season. Put two and two together, and Jim is the one to watch.

Stoke City Team News
	News: New signing Clint Hill is out, while Paul Williams is a doubt. Tony Pulis is likley to stick with a winning team.
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	One to Watch: The theme is goalkeepers, and Ed Goey is possibly the best in the Nationwide. He was one of the Premierships top keepers for a long while. The opposite to Walker in every way, Tall, imposing and dominant.

Saddlers Wins

Draws

Stoke

Last meeting

Stoke

1-0

Walsall

26.2.03 - The readers of TheSaddlersFC voted this game as our worst performance of 2003/2004 season. We crashed to a Lee Mills goal mid way through the first half on a cold February evening. Jorge Leitao was out injured, and a Junior - Zdrilic partnership failed to produce the goods.

Records
4-1 vs WBA	Biggest Home Win	2-1 vs Dons
None	Biggest Away Win	3-0 vs Derby
None	Heaviest Home Def	None
None	Heaviest Away Def	None
15	Players Used	16
1	Clean Sheets	1
1	Failed To Score	0
0	Winning Seq	2
2	Best Unbeaten Seq	2
0	Losing Seq	0
0	Seq With No Win	0

The Verdict

Lee has given this game an extra edge by blasting Stokes new signing Paul Williams. Lee spent most of the summer trying to get him released by Southampton - it happened - then Williams went and signed for Stoke.

The last few games between these sides at the Bescot have been entertaining, finishing 4-2, 4-2 and 3-0 (in Walsall's favour).

Although both sides hope for mid table mediocrity, the prospect of beating a fellow relegation candidate appealing.

Stokes 100% record may be deceiving. They trounced an inexperienced Derby side, and snatched last minute winners against both Wimbledon and Rochdale.

Walsall fans will be encouraged by the fact that they taken points of Albion and Coventry, who have made some impressive signings over the Summer. We have seen Stoke deploy the long ball game on more than one occasion, and if they do it on Saturday - Ropes, Emblen and Hay will be right at home.

There should be an interesting battle in the midfield. Keith Andrews and John Eustace are still in their early 20s and have struck up a good partnership at the heart of Stokes midfield. Walsall's midfield is packed full of experiance. Samways and Merson have played at the highest level, while Simon Osborn is a seasoned campaigner at this level. Who will win the midfield battle? It could be the key to the game.

Tony Pulis has Noel-Williams, Goodfellow, Iwelumo, Asaba and Greenacre to choose from up front while Lee has Leitao, Leitao or Leitao. Stoke have far more fire power than the Saddlers, but we have the craft and guile to open up teams - as seen when Albion came to town

Both clubs now have high expectations for the rest of the season....

Predication : Saddlers 3-3 Stoke

For more on Stoke City, Match Stats, or Player Info check out...

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