Players from Forest Green Rovers, Morecambe, Newport County and Tranmere Rovers feature as WhoScored.com run through their 2020/21 Sky Bet League Two play-offs combined XI...
Friday 21 May 2021 17:30, UK
WhoScored.com look at the League Two play-offs combined XI...
Only a handful of teams conceded fewer goals than Newport (42) in League Two this season and while a dip in form cost them a top-two finish, the Welsh side still did enough to book a play-off finish. Nick Townsend played a key role in that success as he kept 12 clean sheets and returned a solid save success rate of 71.2 per cent to feature between the sticks in this XI with a WhoScored.com rating of 6.61.
Of the five WhoScored.com man of the match awards Mickey Demetriou won this season, three came in his final four outings of 2020/21 as he put in a number of assured displays to wrap up a top-six finish. Demetriou won more aerial duels (315) than any other defender to make this team with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.17.
The first Tranmere player in this side is experienced centre-back Peter Clarke, who landed a WhoScored.com rating of 7.05 this season. The 39-year-old won the fourth most aerial duels (259) of defenders in the division in 2020/21 to reinforce a statistically calculated strength of 'aerial duels'.
Forest Green have two players in the combined play-off XI, with Baily Cargill occupying the third and final centre-back spot. The versatile defender had a direct hand in six goals in all for Forest Green, scoring four, while 1.9 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per 90 were both respectable returns for the 25-year-old following his January arrival.
It's a Morecambe-dominated midfield with John O'Sullivan the first of five Shrimps representatives in total to make the team. Only a handful of sides scored more goals than Morecambe (69) this season, with O'Sullivan having a direct hand in 10 of those, scoring four, to feature on the right with a WhoScored.com rating of 6.93.
Chipping in with six goals, Yann Songo'o features in the middle of the park. A set-piece threat - five of his six goals came from set-piece situations - Songo'o played his part in this high-scoring Morecambe side. 1.9 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per 90 were also solid returns from the Cameroonian, who yielded a WhoScored.com rating of 7.03.
Morecambe's main creative source joins Songo'o in the middle of the park. Aaron Wildig created 63 goalscoring chances this season, that better than any other Shrimps player and the 14th best in the division. In all, Wildig had a direct hand in 13 goals this season, scoring eight, to help land a WhoScored.com rating of 6.94.
Morecambe's top scorer rounds off the midfield. Carlos Mendes Gomes netted 15 times for the Shrimps this season, that enough to rank among the top 10 in the division. A conversion rate of 20.8 per cent was the sixth-best of 172 players to muster 25 or more shots over the campaign to reinforce a WhoScored.com strength of 'finishing' and help the Spaniard to a rating of 7.00.
The second Forest Green player in the side is striker Jamille Matt, whose WhoScored.com rating of 7.07 was enough to make the team of the season. No player scored more headed goals than Matt (5) in League Two in 2020/21, while a conversion rate of 24.3 per cent was the third-best in league to feature on the frontline.
The League Two player of the season with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.46, James Vaughan is the second Tranmere player in the side. Rovers would have stood a far better chance of automatic promotion had Vaughan been fit for the entire campaign as he scored 18 times to play a key role in Tranmere's play-off finish.
With 13 league goals to his name, Cole Stockton joins Matt and Vaughan on the frontline to round off the Morecambe contingent and the League Two play-offs combined XI. Of his 13 goals, six came in Stockton's final eight outings of the campaign so he comes into the play-offs in good form as he seeks to fire Morecambe to League One.
