Matt Taylor has admitted that he will rotate his Bristol Rovers side in some capacity for their EFL Trophy clash at League Two outfit Swindon Town on Tuesday evening but insists that the Gas want to progress in the competition.
League One rivals Exeter City are already through to the knockout stages after victories over Swindon and Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s with only one spot left in Group O.
Rovers drew 3-3 with Tottenham Under-21s in August but the academy side won the eventual penalty shoot out which saw them take an extra point. Meanwhile, Swindon are bottom of the group with zero points having only played Exeter so far, losing 2-1 at St James Park.
The Gas will host Exeter in their final group game later this month but first make the short trip to Wiltshire on Tuesday night looking to make it three consecutive victories for the first time since Taylor took charge last December.
“It’s obviously been discussed, but it’s what we can do,” the Rovers manager admitted after Saturday’s 3-1 win at Burton Albion when asked if he’ll be tempted to name a stronger side. “You saw the group today and I think there was a few on the back of a three-game league week out on their feet physically. So we have to rotate it. We’ve got a big enough squad to be able to do that.
“We’ve only lost Michael [Forbes] in terms of international call ups or recognition. So he’s obviously unavailable. Shaq [Forde]’s actually suspended from a sending off in the competition last season. Not many people knew about that, including myself going into this week.
“But yeah, we’ll rotate it. We’ll move things around. We’ll look after a few, but we want to be competitive. We’ve played one game in the competition so far. We do want to progress.
“Only a win will do really on Tuesday,” Taylor added. “If it goes to a draw and penalties again, then so be it. But we’re going to go and try and win that game. I’m sure Swindon are exactly the same.”
The game against Spurs saw a number of youngsters such as Matt Hall, Kofi Shaw and Micah Anthony start as well as more frequent first-team players such as Isaac Hutchinson, Connor Taylor, Luke McCormick and Chris Martin. How many changes Taylor makes is yet to be seen but the alterations he does pick could still be profiles we’ve seen a fair bit in League One this season but who have struggled for minutes lately.
Luke Thomas didn’t even make the bench at Burton having been an unused substitute against Charlton Athletic while players such as Jake Garrett and Lino Sousa either also weren’t in the squad or didn’t come off the bench.
As the Gas manager explained, Forbes and Forde are certain to miss the contest while the expectation is that a number of players who started against Burton, particularly the more senior heads, won’t even be in the squad on Tuesday night.
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“The ones of note to look after today, Scott Sinclair, the minutes he played and I couldn’t take them off,” Taylor explained. “Jamie Lindsay, I think we know who he is in relation to that. Hunty probably won’t be available on his calf, James Wilson, with his age profile, the rest of them should be available. I’m not in that position now where maybe we were last season of rotating with bodies and physically X,Y, Z.
“It’s a case now of the next opportunity, you’ve got the shirt on, play well, you’ve got a good chance of getting on the pitch.”
It could also be another chance for 17-year-old Shaw to make a positive impression having not been included in a matchday squad since he was handed his first league start away at Peterborough United last month.
Asked if the teenager, who scored in the previous game against Tottenham Under-21s, is likely to feature, the Rovers manager added: “There’s no guarantees for anyone to start on Tuesday. But yeah, Kofi certainly played well in the Tottenham game, and we will try and keep pushing some of our younger players through that pathway when they’re not out on loan. Kofi will certainly come into the fold and get game time in some capacity. We’ll see.”