Swindon Town welcome Crewe Alexandra to the County Ground for their first League Two home fixture of the new season on Saturday.

The two teams locked horns in the fourth tier just four months ago, with the Railwaymen coming out on top with a 2-1 home victory.

Match preview

After ending pre-season on a high with a 3-1 friendly win over Plymouth Argyle, Swindon supporters were in buoyant mood travelling to Colchester United for their opening League Two match of the new season last weekend.

However, the contest was called off less than an hour before kickoff due to a waterlogged pitch, with heavy rain sweeping across North Essex in the first week of August.

Michael Flynn's side eventually got their 2023-24 campaign up and running in the EFL Cup first round away against Peterborough United on Tuesday, but the Robins suffered a 4-1 defeat on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.

Although Swindon converted just one of their 24 shots on goal in normal time, Flynn was proud of his side's performance against their League One counterparts, and he will hope for a similar showing in his first home game in charge of the Robins against a Crewe side whom they have beaten just three times in their last nine meetings.

Unlike Swindon, Crewe managed to progress from the EFL Cup first round with an impressive penalty-shootout triumph away against Championship club Sunderland on Tuesday.

Luke Offord's header on the stroke of half time was cancelled out by 16-year-old Chris Rigg – the youngster-ever goalscorer in EFL Cup history – but it was the Railwaymen who has the last laugh as they prevailed 5-3 on penalties, with Ryan Cooney netting the decisive spot kick.

Manager Lee Bell believes that the cup upset will bring his squad closer together and breed confidence heading into their upcoming run of four successive league fixtures, starting with Saturday's clash at Swindon.

Crewe kick-started their League Two campaign with an entertaining 2-2 draw at home against Mansfield Town last weekend, with goals either side of half time from Mickey Demetriou and Rio Adebisi helping Bell's men rescue a point against the 10-man Stags.

The Alex will be optimistic of success on Saturday after they won both home and away league encounters against Swindon last season, including a slender 1-0 victory at the County Ground in November last year.

Team News

Swindon boss Flynn has confirmed that Tyrese Shade and Tom Clayton are closing in on a return to action after spells out through injury, but Reece Devine is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after undergoing hamstring surgery last week.

Tariq Uwakwe joined the Robins from Crewe this summer and the 23-year-old is in contention to make his home debut against his former club on the left flank.

Experienced forward Charlie Austin is set to lead the line and he could be supported in attack by Dan Kemp and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, the latter of whom scored against Peterborough in midweek and in the 2-1 loss at Crewe last season.

As for the visitors, Bell has admitted that he is facing a selection headache after making five changes for the win against Sunderland, and he is tempted to stick with the experimented 3-5-2 formation on Saturday.

Offord, Connor O'Riordan and Zac Williams could therefore retain their places at centre-back, although Demetriou will be pushing for a recall.

Conor Thomas will battle with Jack Powell, Matus Holicek and Joel Tabiner for a place in centre-midfield, while Shilow Tracey and Courtney Baker-Richardson may continue in attack at the expense of Elliott Nevitt and Chris Long.

Swindon Town possible starting lineup:
Mahoney; Goodwin-Malife, Brewitt, Blake-Tracy; Hutton, Khan, Kinsella, Uwakwe; Kemp, Hepburn-Murphy; Austin

Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Davies; Offord, O'Riordan, Williams; Adebisi, Thomas, Powell, Tabiner, Billington; Tracey, Baker-Richardson

We say: Swindon Town 1-1 Crewe Alexandra

Both Swindon and Crewe will fancy their chances of claiming their first League Two win of the new season on Saturday, but with little to separate these two sides, we can see the spoils being shared on this occasion.

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