Bristol Rovers face arguably their toughest test at home so far this season this weekend when they face fifth-placed Lincoln City at the Mem on Saturday.
Rovers’ results in BS7 so far this term have largely been good with four wins and two defeats in their six League One clashes on home turf but the Imps have enjoyed a strong start to the season after finishing last term in such excellent form.
It will have been two weeks since the Gas’ last league outing, a 1-0 defeat away at Reading where they ironically produced their best performance of the season, having to play the majority of the second half with 10 men after Shaq Forde’s sending off. The hope will be that Rovers can dissect the positive aspects of that display and apply it to their performance against Lincoln on Saturday.
This Saturday’s game will be the third of four consecutive home matches for Matt Taylor’s side having lost 3-2 to Exeter City in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and beaten Weston-super-Mare 3-1 in the FA Cup after extra-time last week.
It certainly feels as though the Rovers manager and his team see this weekend as a good opportunity to take some points. Here’s everything he said to local media ahead of facing Lincoln…
Matt, let’s get injury news out of the way. How is the squad looking?
Willo’s knee is in a better place than it has been. He had it drained and then they inject fluid back into it to lubricate the joint as far as I know. So it’s strange to take stuff out to put some other stuff back into it. But he’s settled down pretty well, so we expect him to be in a better capacity going into the game this weekend.
It’s touch and go with Promise. Every day we seem to be getting closer but there’s still discomfort and pain within that ankle joint so that will be a late decision.
Bar Gats and Joel Senior who aren’t quite ready to return to the playing group, we don’t seem in too bad a place.
Having come through two cup games, is Chris Martin now ready for the vigors of the league?
Well we probably need him to be ready, first and foremost. But yeah, two cup games, 45 minutes and between 60 and 70 minutes last weekend. We’re getting closer and closer but he’s still probably off a little bit of the sharpness and the movement which he’s used to.
But just great to have him fit and available. Now the challenge will be can we keep him fit and available and get him back to his best form by giving him the service that he needs.
And Shaq Forde back from his ban?
Yes. Shaq’s ban was what it was. We missed him last weekend but he’ll be a hungry player this weekend.
And I gather the supporters, not just off the back of what happened to Shaq, but have clubbed together. There’s going to be a couple of banners in the crowd on Saturday. It seems the majority of fans are uniting, aren’t they?
Yes, I believe so. Fantastic. I was so happy when I heard that news and that that idea was mooted. Listen, the players have been through it a little bit. The Bristol Rovers name has been dragged through the mud to a certain extent in terms of what’s happened recently and there’s been more, other than the Shaq one, which is probably public knowledge.
It’s hit the players quite hard, not just the ones who’ve been directly involved. So any form of support, verbally or visibly, certainly from our fan base would mean an awful lot.
It would mean a lot to me, the staff, the club, especially the players and for those players to see and witness and hear that this weekend will be a big moment for them because sometimes they can feel alone, not in terms of playing football, but certainly in terms of the discrimination and some of the racist abuse that they’ve received. And that’s not just to handle against our fans but they’re our players and we have to support them in any way we possibly can.
So yeah, I’m delighted. I’m really pleased in relation to that. I’m grateful. I know the players will be as well and it’ll be a moment for togetherness, connection, solidarity. Everything you need as a football club in terms of supporting each other.
Like I say, it means the most to this group of players. I just hope that they put on a performance which shows that and we can get some good footage, good pictures, some good moments of the players and fans interacting together.
How do you make sure that two back-to-back home games is a positive and the players don’t fear playing at home and things turn negative?
Firstly, they shouldn’t have to fear playing at home because our home form this season has been pretty good. We know what happened in the last minute against Wycombe who have proved to be a very good team since then. We know where the Wigan game was when we weren’t quite at the races and obviously we played a part in that scoreline.
But our home form has been good so if we were to be confident anywhere, it would be at home. Strange to say on the last couple of games and the feeling around it. So, we always want the players to enjoy playing at home in front of the majority of our home fans where they generally have done well this season and two games which I think suit us.
Two games with a fantastic opportunity for this group of players and I see a hungry group at the moment and I want to see that on the pitch and I’m sure our fans are the same.
Reading was a really encouraging performance and you now want to build on that performance going into future games, don’t you?
Yeah. I mean, that was our best performance of the season. We should have taken something out of that game in terms of points or a better feeling coming out of that game. But it was our best performance of the season.
We backed it up with a win in different circumstances against Weston. Those games are never as easy as people think. So yeah, it’s two league opportunities, starting with Lincoln this weekend, where there’s opportunity to put points on the board, opportunity to get in that middle pack, so to speak, which is kind of forming in the middle of this league table, and two home games where generally our form and our performances have been okay.
Are you surprised to see Lincoln in the play-off zone at the moment? They’ve had a good start to the season.
No, they’re an effective team. I think from what I can hear and what I’ve been told, [they’ve] scored the most amount of goals from set-pieces in the Football League.
So if you’re defensively sound, you’ve got a clear structure and style and system and you’re a real threat from set pieces, that’s a good foundation for a good team. They’ve also got a lot of quality on that pitch, got a strong squad, got players to choose from. [They] changed it around a little bit top end of the pitch in the cup game on Monday night.
But yeah, strength in depth. Impressive team so no surprise there.
We talked about Rovers defending set pieces earlier in the season. Are you sensing an improvement on that?
Well, the goals against record and the chances against record in the last month would suggest that, bar the Huddersfield goal, we’ve been better defending our box from set pieces. We’ll have to be again this weekend but we seem a little bit brighter in ourselves in those moments.
You spoke about confidence and it’s not just going into a game, it’s going into a set piece moment. Do we believe we can do the action needed from a defensive capacity that we believe we can defend the box well enough? I believe we can and the players need to keep on showing that and executing their actions. And then on the flip side of that, make more of our attacking set piece moments.
We continue to be a nearly team in around the opposition 18-yard box from set pieces and where we are in the league table that is, and we know it’s 30 percent of goals at this level, that would make a massive difference for us.
Where do you think the group are at now in terms of gelling together a quarter of the way into the season? Do you feel that they’re nearly there?
Yeah. I mean, yes, in terms of connection and partnerships and getting to know each other. What now will always hold us back will be availability, will be disruption in terms of a settled team which you probably always get in the back end of October, November. November is always a month, on the back end of October, where the injuries come and then the fatigue and the movement comes in relation to that.
But we see ourselves quite settled into our current formation, quite settled in terms of the personnel involved in that and who the big contributors are.
We’ve had to, or we’ve felt we’ve had to, wait a little bit in terms of certain personnel fully getting up to speed and they might still not be there just yet. But a lot of players coming to the club in a new capacity came on the back of a disjointed pre-season.
It sounds so strange to say that in November, and this isn’t an excuse in any way, but Shaq’s an example of that, still fully getting up to speed. Ruel missing pre-season. Chrissy to a certain extent. I know there was a separate injury on the back of his original one, but the ones who’ve not just had their beginning to it from day one where it was almost that perfect six-week period of just fitness and work and 90 minutes football. They’re the ones who are still playing a little bit of catch up. Jamie Lindsay is another example of that.
But they certainly feel like they’re in a better position now than they have been in times gone by and then you’re looking at performance for selection and the ones who perform better will be on the pitch.
So I don’t see us changing too big an aspect of the team at the moment, but I’m really looking forward to seeing now, come on, let’s start to pick up some points, pick up some wins and see where the team can take us.
I’m sure you’re very pleased to have Shaq back available. It seems as though he’s got something that maybe some of the other forwards don’t.
Yes. That electric aspect of beating a player one v one. Unpredictable. Can go both ways off either foot. Can play both sides of the pitch. Can play central. [He’s] got a low centre of gravity, holds the ball close to him and very difficult to take the ball off and receives it in tight areas.
So yeah, it was his coming and then obviously the sending off and then what happened on the back of that was a low moment for him and myself and the club. This might feel like his second coming.
But only missing one game felt like we got him closer to that sharpness and that fitness and feeling comfortable on the pitch.
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What’s been the discussion ahead of a game at home against Lincoln this week? It feels as though this is a game where they’re probably the best team you’ve had at the Mem this season but it’s still an opportunity to really make a statement.
Every game we back ourselves in and every home game we back ourselves in to force the running and play a certain way and get the fans excited on the edge of the seats and create chances and get the ball in the box and play with a momentum sort of way.
Easier said than done against a quality opposition but if we want to be anything we want to be in terms of where we want to finish at the end of the season, right now, then it’s about picking up points. We can say great, pat ourselves on the back after our best performance of the season at Reading, but we came away goalless and pointless. I’d take an ugly win, but I do expect us to be at our best this weekend.
You’ve been able to sort loan deals for Micah Anthony and Jerry Lawrence to go to Bath City. I assume that you’re particularly pleased to see them go into the National League South?
Yeah. First of all, the ones in the National League, I think we spoke previously about the level these young players are playing at. That’s fantastic. There’s not many 17 and 18-year-olds respectfully to be playing at that level. So great for their future as well as the future of this football club.
And then, a local club in Bath competing in the National League South which is a good enough level, taking Micah and Jerry. Jerry has kind of done his time at the lower level playing for Yate and done really well for them so he deserves it. He’s warranted that opportunity. And then Micah, the same way, just needs to go out and play football and not only play football, but the same as what I’m saying to our first team players is contribute. Contribute in the right areas of the pitch and contribute with big moments. If he’s an attacking player, goals and assists, it’s pretty simple.
So looking forward to seeing how they get on. I think they both got on the pitch for a small period at Slough on Tuesday, a 3-0 defeat. I’m led to believe it’s a local derby against Weston, we know what a good team Weston are, this weekend for Bath. So it’ll be great to see them and see how they do as well.
But also with the FA Cup last weekend, you had Dan Ellison playing away at Bradford. These are great opportunities.
Oh, fantastic. The experience he’s gained, like I say, there’s no other 18-year-old centre-halves playing at that level unless they’re coming up through that level itself. So for a loan player to go back or drop down to the level that he’s playing at, but like you say, playing at Bradford in front of X amount of people and marking Andy Cook and so on and so forth.
And he’s learning on the job. Every game he plays, every experience he has, just gets him that little bit closer to us now. Right now, it’s still a long way away and he still needs time and we’re patient in relation to that, but we can certainly speed that up through the loan process, which is why I’m delighted with Jerry, Micah, Dan Ellison, Kofi, even some of the other ones closer to the 18s are out on loan as well.