Bristol Rovers’ home game against Blackpool scheduled for next weekend has been postponed after the Tangerines received three international call-ups within their squad.
EFL rules state that the threshold for clubs to be able to request the postponement of a fixture is when they’ve had three or more players called up for international duty.
From a Rovers perspective, only on-loan West Ham United defener Michael Forbes is set to be away on duty with Northern Ireland Under-21s with it understood that Kamil Conteh hasn’t been called up by Sierra Leone for this month’s internationals.
Meanwhile, Blackpool have seen Rob Apter (Scotland Under-21s), Zac Ashworth (Wales Under-21s) and Dom Ballard (England Men’s Elite Squad) called up to represent their respective nations.
The Tangerines are in outstanding form under new manager Steve Bruce who oversaw four wins from his first quartet of matches before a late equaliser by Lincoln City on Tuesday night prevented that run from being extended to five victories in a row.
As things stand, only three League One fixtures will be going ahead next weekend in Crawley Town vs Shrewsbury Town, Stockport County vs Wycombe Wanderers and Peterborough United vs Rotherham United.
A new date is yet to be confirmed for Rovers’ meeting with Blackpool but it is unlikely to be until November at the earliest with the Gas having a hectic fixture list over the next month.
Matt Taylor’s side will face Burton Albion away from home this weekend in League One before making the short trip to Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy next Tuesday (October 8). They then have three-game weeks until early November with the next clear midweek being in between the FA Cup first round weekend of November 2 and a home game against Lincoln City on November 9.
The postponement means that Rovers now face three consecutive away matches with a trip to Huddersfield Town on October 19 their next match after facing Swindon.