Football

A Preview of Saturday’s Capital One cup matches

Saturday sees the start of the 2012/2013 season campaign start for many teams. This season the first competitive games of the season come from the newly named ‘Capital One cup’ (The League Cup). He is a preview of some of the fixtures that will be contested in the first round on Saturday.

Capital One Cup

Capital One Cup

Cheltenham Town VS MK Dons at Whaddon Road

For me, the game of the day in the cup comes at Whaddon Road, where the beaten League two finalists Cheltenham take on League One’s beaten semi-finalists MK Dons. These two teams must have de ja vu as they met at the same round, in the same cup, at the same venue, with the away team winning 4-1. However, this season’s game could be different with Marlon Pack now showing that he can dominate the midfield and is League One standard at least. Cheltenham has no less than four players that could make their debut for the robins. These include the experienced forwards of Chris Zebroski from Bristol Rovers and the loan signing of Shaun Harrad from Bury. These with the trick winger Sam Deering from Barnet and left back Billy Jones from Exeter, not only could Cheltenham cause a shock in this cup tie, but they will definitely look toward building on their Wembley appearance in the play- off finals. The one big signing for MK Dons in the summer has been their capture of ex Sheffield Wednesday striker Ryan Lowe who is a proven goal scorer who will look to impress manager Karl Robinson. Ryan Lowe joins goal scorers such as Dean Bowditch and Jabo Ibehre at the club who will also be fighting for a start in the cup-tie.

Watford VS Wycombe Wanderers at Vicarage Road

Watford take on recently relegated League Two side Wycombe, in Gianfranco Zola’s first competitive game in charge of the Hornets. It will also be Watford’s first competitive game after the take- over by the Pozzo family who also own Italian side Udinese and Spanish side Granada. This take-over has led to no less than seven signings for Watford. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and Fitz Hall have both agreed one year contracts. They along with loan signings Almen Abdi, Matej Vydra, Steve Leo Beleck (Udinese) and Daniel Pudil and Ikechi Anya (Granada) will all be looking to make their debut for Watford. Dennis Oli will be looking to make his first appearance after his move from Gillingham, however a knee injury may stop him from achieving that. Veteran defender Gary Doherty will also hope to make his debut after his move from Charlton. Wycombe will try to catch Watford cold at the start of the season and try and cause an upset.

Wolves VS Aldershot Town at The Molineux

Like Wycombe, Aldershot will also try to cause an upset as the travel to Wolverhampton. Wolves take on the League Two after recently finishing bottom and being relegated from the Premiership. This is also Stale Solbakken’s first competitive game in charge of Wolves following his appointment in the summer. A number of players missed Wolves’ recent friendly loss to Southampton and could miss this meeting. These include goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, defender George Elekobi and the heavily linked striker Steven Fletcher. However, loan signings Tongo Doumbia from Rennes and Slawomir Peszko from Cologne along with striker Frank Nouble (West Ham) and recently signed Bjorn Sigurdason (Lillestrom) could all make their debut. Aldershot last season made it to the last 16 of the cup and was rewarded with a visit of Manchester United who beat them 3-0. The shots also have a number of players that could make their debut. Young centre back Olly Lancashire is one of those that could make his Aldershot debut after signing from Walsall, another is Craig Reid, a striker that has been signed from Stevenage. Aldershot will also have Michael Rankine and Alex Rodman back from injury after their last piece of action was in early January.

Rochdale VS Barnsley at Spotland

These teams met two years ago at Oakwell, where Rochdale was victorious that day with a 1-0 and there is no reason why an upset cannot be caused again. The match also sees a return for Barnsley manager Keith Hill to his old club. Rochdale finished bottom of League One last season and will be looking for a good start to the season in order to be in high spirits to start their promotion push. One noticeable signing for Rochdale is veteran striker Dele Adebola from Hull who has been brought in on loan to replace Reece Gray who has been ruled out until the new year following a dislocated ankle and fractured tibula. Adebola alongside new signings Ian Craney and Ray Putterill could make debuts in Saturday’s game against Barnsley. Barnsley strengthened their squad with in the summer with ex-Liverpool winger Toni Silva and ex Derby and Reading striker Tomasz Cywka. Silva was on loan at Northampton Town last season whilst Tomasz Cywka completed a short-term deal with the eventual Championship winners Reading, both players could make their debut.

Sheffield United VS Burton Albion at Bramell Lane

Sheffield United were unlucky last season as they lost out on promotion to Huddersfield on penalties and will be looking for automatic promotion this season under Danny Wilson. Burton Albion finished 17th in League One and will be looking to improve on that position under Gary Rowett. The two sides met last season in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at the Pirelli stadium where the Blades beat the Brewers 2-1. Ched Evans is still unavailable after his sentence; however, defender Matt Hill is set to make his debut after signing for the Blades following his release from Blackpool. Midfielder Lee Bell will be in contention to start for the Brewers after agreeing a one year deal, the move make it his third spell for the club. Left back Damien McCrory will be hoping to make his debut for Albion following his move from fellow League Two club Dagenham and Redbridge.

Hull City V Rotherham United at The KC Stadium

Hull takes on Rotherham in an all Yorkshire affair at the KC Stadium. Steve Bruce will take charge of Hull with this being his debut as Hull manager. The ever-controversial Steve Evans is the opposition; Evans joined Rotherham towards the end of the season from Crawley Town. Both sides finished just outside of their respective league’s playoff places and both will be looking for promotion in the upcoming season.  During the summer Hull have signed ex West Ham player Abdoulaye Faye and Bruce’s son Alex Bruce on a two-year contract, both could make their debut. Andy Dawson and Corry Evans could miss out due to injuries. As for the millers, two notable signings this summer have been strikers Kayode Odejayi from Colchester and Daniel Nardiello from Exeter, both will be pushing for a start.

The remaining fixtures on Saturday are as followed:

Bury V Middlesbrough

Carlisle V Accrington Stanley

Crewe V Hartlepool

Doncaster Rovers V York City

Leeds V Shrewsbury

Notts County V Bradford

Walsall V Brentford

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