Preview: Forest Green Rovers vs. Crewe Alexandra - prediction, team news, lineups

Forest Green Rovers and Crewe Alexandra are separated by two points ahead of their League Two showdown at the New Lawn on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts claimed an impressive EFL Trophy victory over Shrewsbury Town in midweek, while the visitors suffered a disappointing defeat to Port Vale.

Match preview

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Despite facing a barrage of 24 shots - 10 of which were on target - Forest Green managed to secure a 3-0 win against Shrewsbury on Tuesday, courtesy of goals from Dylan Kadji, Tyrese Omotoye and Mathew Stevens.

That triumph followed a 1-0 league victory over Sutton United, meaning that Rovers head into Saturday's clash on the back of successive clean-sheet wins, with their last defeat coming against Newport County on August 19.

David Horseman's side made a poor start to their League Two campaign, suffering three defeats across the first four matches while conceding seven goals, but they have since taken four points from a possible six.

Still, 18th-placed Forest Green remain two points behind 11th-placed Crewe Alexandra in the League Two table, as the Railwaymen have lost just one of their six league outings this term, picking up two wins and three draws in the process.

Lee Bell's men started their League Two campaign with successive 2-2 draws against Manfield Town and Swindon Town before defeating Newport County 4-2, with another 2-2 draw against Walsall coming a few days later.

After suffering their first league defeat of the season - losing 1-0 to Bradford City at Valley Parade a fortnight ago - Crewe bounced back with a 3-1 victory over MK Dons.

Although only three teams have scored more League Two goals than Crewe's 13 this season, the Alex have also conceded 10 goals, meaning that only five teams have a poorer defensive record than Bell's side.

It is also worth noting that Crewe have lost three of their last four matches across all competitions, with the league defeat at Bradford preceding back-to-back losses against Port Vale in the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Team News

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Forest Green will be without Hull City loanee Callum Jones on Saturday as he continues to recover from a knee injury, forcing him to wait for his Rovers debut.

Following a couple of substitute appearances, Troy Deeney made his first start for Forest Green in last weekend's victory over Sutton United, with the veteran striker expected to partner Matt Taylor in attack on Saturday.

On the flip side, Crewe Alexandra have reported no injury problems ahead of Saturday's clash, although Lee Bell will likely ring the changes after a series of below-par results.

Chris Long, Rio Adebisi and Elliott Nevitt have all scored two league goals this season, while Mickey Demetriou has, unexpectedly, contributed three goals and one assist from centre-back.

Midfielder Jack Powell has also impressed following his move from Crawley Town, bagging one goal and two assists in the league, so he will continue alongside Conor Thomas in the engine room.

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:

Daniels; Bernard, Inniss, Welch, Robson; McAllister, Bunker, McCann, Holland; Taylor, Deeney

Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:

Davies; Offord, O'Riordan, Demetriou; Cooney, Tabiner, Thomas, Powell, Adebisi; Baker-Richardson, Long

We say: Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Crewe Alexandra

Saturday's showdown looks destined to be a closely-fought battle between two evenly-matched teams, so we can see Forest Green and Crewe playing out a low-scoring draw at the New Lawn.

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