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OPPOSITION PREVIEW | Forest Green Rovers

A full look at Saturday's opposition who occupy 20th place in the league table

9 November 2017

Club News

OPPOSITION PREVIEW | Forest Green Rovers

A full look at Saturday's opposition who occupy 20th place in the league table

9 November 2017

We profile the weekend's opponents Forest Green Rovers, looking into their form this season, the key man and the man at the helm.

The story so far...

The side's first season in the Football League got off to a difficult start. One win in their opening 13 league matches came in a 4-3 home win over Yeovil Town. Goals from Reece Brown, Charlie Cooper and Omal Bugiel overtunred a 3-1 deficit at half time to give Mark Cooper's men their first since joining the EFL.

But their form has turned around over their last three league matches - two of which have come away from home. A 1-1 draw away to Notts County was followed by a 1-0 victory over Coventry Ciy at the Ricoh Arena and then 2-1 win over Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium.

Their last league game a fortnight ago ended in a 2-0 win over Morecambe as the team moved up to 20th and last weekend they advanced to the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup with a 1-0 home win over Macclesfield Town.

The Boss - Mark Cooper...

The son of former Leeds United and England full-back Terry Cooper took over at the New Lawn in 2016 with the side already having qualified for the Conference play-off final - but Scott Bartlett took caretaker charge of the side and Cooper oversaw the game in an advisory role.

His first full season in charge - the 2016/17 campaign, ended with promotion at Wembley Stadium  as the side beat Tranmere Rovers 3-1 to secure league football for the first time in the club's history.

Other clubs on his CV include Notts County, Swindon Town, Peterborough United, Kettering Town and Tamworth.

The One to Watch - Christian Doidge...

Six goals in all competitions so far this season for the former Dagenham and Redbridge forward make him the side's top scorer so far this term - the most recent coming in last weekend's cup success over Macclesfield Town.

Last season the striker plundered 27 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions as he was pivotal in the side's historic promotion. 

Doidge was on target twice for Dagenham and Redbridge in the 3-0 win over Crawley Town in the 2015/16 campaign - Dermot Drummy's first game in charge of the Reds - they'd prove to be his last goals for the club before his move to his current employers.


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