Saturday afternoon we welcome Barnet to the County Ground for the tenth game in League Two this season.

Remember, Adult tickets purchased before 5pm on Friday will be at £20 in the Arkells and Don Rogers Stands and £14 in the Town End. Better than nothing, but still not good enough IMO.

Form… After being brought back down to earth after three successive victories with defeat at Burton Albion, Town are a more formidable side at home. Just one defeat at The County Ground this season – against those who shall not be named – has been the only chink in an otherwise perfect home record in the League.

21st placed Barnet sit on 9 points courtesy of 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. Away from Underhill, Barnet have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 2. After the Bees beat Plymouth 2-0 last week – then who doesn’t – they couldn’t handle Oxford United at home on Saturday, losing 2-0.

Swindon Team Speculation… Lukas Magera has returned to training this week and may replace youngster Miles Storey on the bench. Alan McCormack serves his one match suspension after picking up 5 cautions in extra quick time. Expect Aden Flint to replace Alan and partner Joe Devera in central defence. I’m expecting the remainder of the starting XI to be unchanged.

Barnet Team Speculation… Teamtalk.com reports:

Steve Kabba, Daniel Leach, Darren Dennehy and Anwar Uddin are all fit again, and quotes Bees boss Sanchez in confirming no-one is guaranteed a place.

“We have a fully-fit squad now and there is plenty of competition for places. We may now have to change things around a little bit in terms of the team and the substitutes. Defensively, Darren Dennehy is back, Daniel Leach is fit and we also have Anwar Uddin back, so there is plenty of players available for the starting places. Goalkeeper Dean Brill and defender Danny Senda have been struggling with knocks this week but should be fit to face Swindon.”

Previous Meetings… Swindon and Barnet have only met on four occasions. Our total record is won 1, drawn 2 and 1 defeat, scoring 4 and conceding 4.

The sides met for the first time in the 2006/2007 season in League Two. After Dennis Wise’s first home game as manager resulted in a a 2-1 victory at The County Ground thanks to Ricky Shakes and a late Royce Brownlie strike, Town were defeated 1-0 at Underhill under Paul Sturrock in February. The season ended with Swindon promoted automatically in 3rd, while Barnet finished 14th.

The following season Swindon were dumped out of the FA Cup 3rd Round on penalties, after two 1-1- draws and 210 minutes couldn’t separate the sides. The shootout was notable for the awful Town strikes from 12 yards. All four penalties taken by Paynter, Roberts, Aljofree and Comminges were missed with only one saved by the Bees keeper Beckwith.

What the Stats Tell Us… I’m sure you’ve seen the defensive, attacking and overall League Two rankings this week…

Swindon are  the 2nd most efficient defensive outfit with a score of 36, while Barnet sit 11th on 61.

In attack, Swindon are more average for League Two, sitting 10th on 55, just behind 5th ranked Barnet with a score of 50.

Overall, Swindon are my 4th most efficient side in League Two with a score of 91, a few ahead of 9th placed Barnet equal with Oxford on 111.

Decent Bet… Swindon have yet to score at home in the opening 15 minutes, but have scored 4 goals before half time. Barnet have only scored twice away from home in their first halves. Both sides have scored more goals after the break. Swindon have outscored their opponents at The County Ground by more than 2:1.

Swindon to score first, but after 15 minutes.

Kickoff.co.uk Prediction… 

% Chance of Full Time Result: Swindon win: 41% | Barnet win: 29% | Draw: 30%

% Chance of Scoreline: Swindon 1 Barnet 1: 14% | Swindon 1 Barnet 0: 13% | Swindon 0 Barnet 0: 11% | Swindon 2 Barnet 1: 9%

My prediction… 2-1 win for Swindon with Mark Marshall scoring for the Bees.