Preview: Forest Green Rovers vs. Cheltenham Town - prediction, team news, lineups

The home side were perfect in the group stages of the competition, while the visitors rode their luck a bit en route to reaching the knockout phase.

Match preview

Forest Green Rovers have endured a poor start to the season since their promotion from League Two where they finished top of the pile last time out.

Ian Burchnall's men are bottom in the League One table, six points adrift of safety already after the first 19 rounds of matches which have yielded 14 points.

However, The Green are firing on all cylinders in the EFL Trophy as victories over Southampton U21, Newport County and Exeter saw them finish top of Group 14.

Next up is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who have a poor record in this fixture, winning just one of 11 previous encounters.

Off the back of two consecutive home defeats, Tuesday's hosts will be aiming to get themselves back on track in front of what is fast becoming an agitated group of supporters.

Cheltenham Town snapped a three-game winless run on Saturday afternoon thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Wycombe Wanderers at Whaddon Road.

Alfie May broke the deadlock four minutes shy of the half-hour mark and that was enough to secure all three points for Wade Elliott's men in a keenly-contested affair.

The Robins, who have suffered defeat in their last two cup outings, now set out to turn their fortunes around and secure back to back victories for the first time since early October.

Currently without a win on the road in any of their most recent five outings, Tuesday's visitors simply cannot afford to put on another underwhelming display from home to stand any chance of going through.

Forest Green Rovers EFL Trophy form:

W

W

W

Forest Green Rovers form (all competitions):

L

D

L

W

L

D

Cheltenham Town EFL Trophy form:

W

W

L

Cheltenham Town form (all competitions):

L

W

D

L

D

W

Team News

Kyle McAllister was forced off with a first-half injury in Forest Green's last involvement, making the 23-year-old a doubt for Tuesday's affair.

Should McAllister be deemed unfit to participate, Jamille Matt will be largely expected to come into the starting lineup for the home side.

Having recently made his comeback from injury, Cheltenham's Alfie May wasted no time in returning to the score sheet and the forward is one to look out for.

Lewis Freestone is in line to return to the visitors' XI in place of Englishman Charlie Raglan, who has been in and out of the team of late.

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:

McGee; Cargill, Casey, Bernard; Boyes, Peart-Harris, Bunker, O'Keeffe; Matt, Wickham, March

Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:

Southwood; Freestone, Taylor, Long; Williams, Adshead, Sercombe, Jackson; Broom, Olayinka, Lloyd

We say: Forest Green Rovers 1-0 Cheltenham Town

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