TVOS gives us the stats ahead of the proverbial relegation 6 pointer at home to Swindon Town.
* Tuesday will be the 22nd league game between Dale and Swindon Town and the 11th at Spotland
* Dale have won one of the previous ten home fixtures, losing three times and drawing six
* Our best and only home win over Swindon in league football came on their last visit in November 2016, as described at the end of this article
* Just over 12 months before that league fixture, a Nathaniel Mendez-Laing hat-trick had guided Dale to a 3-1 home win over The Robins in the first round of the FA Cup
* And just over 12 months before that, Dale gained their only other victory against Swindon when goals from Matty Lund, Peter Vincenti and Bastien Hery helped clinch a 3-2 success at the County Ground
* That was our first-ever win over Swindon at the 16th attempt
* Dale lost all of their first six away games against The Robins
* When Dale and Swindon drew 3-3 at Spotland in February 1984, the goals included three penalties — one for Dale and two for the visitors
* Even though the teams have met only 23 times in league and cup football, there have been a high proportion of spot-kicks. Dale have scored five and missed two; Swindon have scored six and missed two, both of which were saved in the same game at the County Ground by Matt Gilks in August 2006
* Swindon’s 4-2 win at Spotland in April 2015 was a remarkable game. The visitors led 4-1 at half-time, Ben Gladwin scoring a hat-trick, both teams converted penalties and Dale’s second goal was actually scored by Town’s Nathan Thompson!
* Just over a year later, Dale’s final home game of 2015/16 ended in a 2-2 draw with Swindon. Ian Henderson missed a penalty for Dale and The Robins had two players sent-off in the second half.
* The most common scoreline in this fixture is 2-1, with all five of them achieved by Swindon
* Dale’s leading appearance-maker against Swindon is Matty Lund, with seven games
* Also in the current squad, Jim McNulty (4) has made most appearances for Dale against Town
* Dale’s top scorers against Swindon, with three goals each, are Matty Lund and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing
LAST VISIT
Dale produced a magnificent performance in recording a 4-0 win over Swindon when they were last at Spotland in November 2016.
Joe Bunney set the ball rolling on the half-hour, before three goals in the space of 11 second half minutes from Matty Lund and Steven Davies (2, including a penalty) wrapped-up a fine victory.
See the action here: