Cheltenham Town may be struggling for form at the wrong end of the League Two table but three of their squad might well fancy their chances against the Fleet, having been involved in victories in knockout competitions against us in the recent past.
Pacy winger/striker Alex Addai (pictured above with Nathan Ashmore) lined up for Merstham in their shock 2-1 win over the Fleet in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the 2016/17 competition, when the Surrey side came from behind to dump us out of the FA Cup. The 24-year-old was at Tottenham as a youngster with Harry Kane but dropped into non-league with Carshalton, Whitehawk and Kingstonian before hitting the headlines at Merstham. He was signed by Cheltenham in the summer, giving up a job in education to make it in League Two. He has played six times for the Robins this season.
Another player to taste success against the Fleet is experienced full-back Craig Alcock (above). He was at the Kuflink Stadium last year as part of the Doncaster Rovers lineup who, of course, struck back from 2-0 down in the final minutes of the first-half to go and win 6-2. Alcock, 30, spent six years with Yeovil Town and has also played for Peterborough United and Sheffield United. He’s likely to be on the Cheltenham bench tomorrow, having played five games so far this season.
One man who is likely to start is former Fleet transfer target Nigel Atangana. The energetic French-born midfielder came to England and shone in a season with Havant & Waterlooville in 2013/14, his winning goal in the FA Trophy against us sending the Hawks into the last eight at our expense. However, Atangana — who moved on to Portsmouth and Leyton Orient – was denied a Wembley appearance when he came up against none other than Nathan Ashmore in the semi-finals, who was playing for Gosport Borough at the time.
Elsewhere in the Cheltenham squad, midfielder Ryan Broom has played against us for both Bath City and Eastleigh while on loan from Bristol Rovers (Fleet won both those encounters 1-0) and the only other player with any sort of connection is goalkeeper Scott Flinders who played alongside his then skipper Dave Winfield in two seasons at York City.
