Division Two: Bristol City v Burnley - Pete Oliver's preview
IT could be a tale of two wingers at Ashton Gate tomorrow with Burnley and Bristol City both boasting potential match-winners in Glen Little and Greg Goodridge.
Little will be charged with supplying the ammunition for Andy Payton, Graham Branch and possibly Andy Cooke if he makes his return via the bench.
And Goodridge will also be hogging the right flank and looking to deliver crosses for City's £500,000 signing Steve Jones and his striker partner, either Steve Torpey or Lorenzo Pinamonte.
However, both players and their managers will also be keen to see them get on the scoresheet themselves, with neither Little or Barbados international Goodridge having hit the target this season.
On Goodridge's part that's not for the want of trying.
The flying wingman, who joined City from QPR three years ago after a £350,000 move from Torquay to Loftus Road failed to work out, has had 20 shots this season, according to Nationwide League statiticians Opta.
Of those efforts, seven have been on target but have failed to beat the keeper.
Little, on the other hand, has unleashed just four efforts of which one has been on target.
To be fair to the Burnley man, he has had two less hours on the pitch than his Bristol counterpart. But despite that Little the provider has made just 13 fewer passes with 127 to Goodridge's 140, with a completion rate of 68 per cent, 15 per cent better than Goodridge.
Goodridge scores more heavily on his crossing (29 per cent to 23 per cent) and his dribbling (81 per cent to 63 per cent).
And the City man has also been a more prolific tackler.
But Little was a key figure in Burnley's 3-0 win over Colchester last Saturday, when he laid on Payton's opener and also had a hand in the striker's hat-trick goal.
And if he displays that kind of cutting edge again tomorrow, City left-back Gerard Lavin will have his hands full.
On the opposite flank, Paul Smith faces an intruiging battles with Goodridge. And while the wingers could hold the key, so too could the men trying to stop them.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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