History beckons for Salford City: EFL Trophy final preview

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This Saturday, almost a year after it was first scheduled to be played, we will see League One promotion contenders Portsmouth, take on a Salford City side who are looking upwards themselves in League Two.

It will be a historic match, having been first delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and Salford City will be eyeing up their first major cup competition win in the club’s history.

It has been a long year since the final was set-up, so let’s have a look back at what The Ammies went through to reach the final and what we can expect from the match.

2019/20 Salford City

Before analysing their run to the EFL Trophy Final, it is important to remember that last season was the first time that Salford City had played league football in the history of the club.

The team was playing exciting, successful football under Graham Alexander, and it briefly seemed as though they might even be odds-on for promotion following an extremely good start to their maiden League Two campaign.

Even despite a drop-off in results as the season went on, an eleventh-placed finish was mightily impressive, with 18 points separating the Class of ‘92-owned club from the relegation zone.

Despite this minor victory, the team’s real success last season came in their EFL Trophy run that saw them go unbeaten in six games and which included victories against League One teams Tranmere Rovers and Accrington Stanley.

Salford only conceded one goal during this run, though it took penalties against Newport in the semi-finals for the Ammies to guarantee their trip to Wembley to face off against the previous season’s winners in Portsmouth.

Luke Armstrong was the clubs’ top scorer in the competition last season, but he is now on loan at Hartlepool. There is also a new manager at the helm in the form of Richie Wellens, who replaced Graham Alexander in the hot seat back in November. 

The managerial change goes hand-in-hand with the massive turnover of players in the transfer windows since. So if the old guard can’t be relied on tomorrow against Pompey, which players can?

Key Players:

Robbie Gotts

The on-loan Robbie Gotts has been a revelation since joining Salford from Leeds United in January. He has been key in Richie Wellens’ adoption of two roaming attacking midfielders that yielded such a great run of results at the beginning of 2021. The youngster is full of running and is a nightmare for opposition defences. He’s one that the Portsmouth defence will need to keep a close eye on.

Ian Henderson

From youth to experience, we can’t talk about Salford City without talking about veteran striker Ian Henderson. At the age of 36, he has started all of Salford games in League 2 this season and is still well amongst the goals, having notched up 13 thus far. He is the focal point of the Salford attack and will be a massive challenge for Portsmouth’s Shaun Raggett.

Tom Clarke

Pompey’s John Marquis will most likely cause problems for Salford at the weekend. The Striker has scored 15 goals this including two in the EFL Trophy, and it will fall to centre-back Tom Clarke to keep the experienced hitman quiet. Clarke is a former England international and performed at a good level with Preston in the Championship right up until last season.

 

Recent Results

Neither of these two sides come into the match on great form, Salford have won just one of their last last six, while Pompey are without a win in eight.

This will not be a match between two overly-confident teams, but it will be decided, quite simply, by the team who wants it more.

Portsmouth will stake their claim for it, having won last season’s final to Sunderland and with promotion seemingly slipping through their fingers with every game that passes, this might be their meat chance of honours this season.

If Salford win, it would mean everything. This is a team that sat in the eighth tier of English football only six years ago, to now be competing for a major trophy and looking at promotion to League One.  It would be a major success for the Class of ‘92 and would cement their place even further into the history of the club.

There is a strong argument that tomorrow’s game is the biggest in the club’s history and they will be desperate for a win.

 

Prost International’s Steve Clare will be at Wembley for the 2020 EFL Trophy Final

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

 

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