League One Round Up

Follwing yesterday’s League Two round up here is one for the teams I regularly cover in League One and the Championship. I will try to maintain this as we go through the summer so fans can kept abreast of major developments (transfers, etc) at the clubs on my patch.

Walsall’s hopes of staying in League One took a dent yesterday when it was announced that defender Clayton McDonald, 22, has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The team slipped back into the bottom four following Notts County’s win over fellow strugglers Tranmere (Martin Allen’s first victory as the boss of the Magpies), but they still have it all to play for.

Swindon face County on Saturday and will have been dismayed to see some of ‘Mad Dog’ Allen’s magic starting to rub off. The Robins need to win all of their remaining games to have any realistic chance of staying up, but experienced midfield David Prutton has become the first player to openly question (if not criticise) the way the club has been run this season and told the Swindon Advertiser:

“I think in certain respects we could have benefited from keeping a few more players together, but it is the chairman and the board’s prerogative to run the club soundly and prudently.”

The interview with David can be seen here: http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/8983030.Club_failed_to_act_quickly_enough_to_glaring_problems___Prutton/

Bristol Rovers’s coach Craig Hinton has told the local press that he hopes leading scorer Will Hoskins will be available for the run-in. He said:

"We want to make sure we get him 100 per cent right first. There are still four games to go and we want him for those four games if we can. But if it means him missing Saturday or another game and we have him for the other three, that's the important thing.

He is a big player for us and a big personality on and off the pitch. We would obviously like to have him back, but we will have to see how it goes. He went out for a light bit of running while the rest of the players were doing some ball work and he wanted to join in. We had to tell him to calm down! Hopefully, he will be back on Saturday, but we will have to see how he progresses over the next couple of days."

See the online article here: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/sport/Craig-Hinton-knows-Bristol-Rovers-won-t-easy-ride-matches/article-3466580-detail/article.html

Meanwhile Bristol City are secure in the Championship, but Keith Millen will be wanting to finish on a high so that he can attract some quality players in the summer (and retain the likes of Nicky Maynard). In this respect the preparations have already started and Tunisian midfield Nabil Taider, 27, has been on trial with the Robins. Taider has got four caps, but also played for the French U-21s and was recently plying his trade out in Turkey.