Bristol Rovers are hopeful that Connor Taylor will be passed fit to make the trip to Leyton Orient tomorrow after the centre-back wasn’t risked last weekend for the Gas’ FA Cup second round tie at Barnsley.
Even without the in-form centre-back, Rovers were able to keep the Reds out for 120 minutes of football before winning the tie on penalties, although they largely had their goalkeeper Josh Griffiths to thank.
West Ham United loanee Michael Forbes came into the 11 for just his fourth start for the Gas and was outstanding at the back, particularly considering how little game time he’s had this campaign.
However, prior to Saturday’s cup tie, Taylor was arguably Rovers’ most in-form player with his manager saying before their 1-0 win at Mansfield Town that he believes the 23-year-old is now playing the best football he’s seen him play.
Matt Taylor took a leave of absence last Thursday to deal with a family emergency with no public confirmation from the club at the time of writing that he will be back in the dugout at Orient tomorrow night. As a result, first-team coach Dave Horseman took care of media duties, leading the team alongside assistant manager Wayne Carlisle, and sounded optimistic that he would have his star centre-back in contention once again.
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“Yeah, listen, he’s played so much,” Horseman said post-match at Oakwell. “If I really pushed him, he’d have played again today but I’ve got Michael Forbes. You have got these people that can play and deserve to play because they train really well and Connor will be fine.
“He was at the point where probably his scores on the hamstring test that they do is just fatigue. Where if he’d have played again today, you’re probably risking him and he’s been so good for us recently. As much as we desperately wanted to win today, not at the risk of losing Connor for the next six months. No chance. So, yeah, he’ll be fine.”
Four changes were made for the game at Barnsley which ended up lasting an extra half hour in duration and therefore could affect team selection as Rovers attempt to keep as much freshness in their side as possible without sacrificing quality.
On top of the injured Promise Omochere, Jack Hunt and Lino Sousa, the Gas will also be without midfielder Kamil Conteh after the 21-year-old picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in last week’s 2-0 defeat to Blackpool.
However, Saturday did see the return of Joel Senior who played the first 45 minutes before being taken off as Rovers manage the right-back’s minutes after three months out. The 25-year-old was excellent, albeit for a short spell, and is certainly in contention for his first League One start tomorrow in East London.