Inigo Calderon has admitted he thinks Grant Ward will be in contention for Bristol Rovers‘ clash with Northampton Town after he missed the Gas’ meeting with Wycombe Wanderers.
Rovers make the trip to Sixfields Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they look to get back to winning ways in League One following their 2-0 defeat to The Chairboys on Tuesday evening. After a positive first-half showing at Adams Park, goals from Cameron Humphreys and Dan Udoh ensured Calderon’s side would be returning to the West Country empty-handed.
Having been forced off in the second half of last weekend’s 3-1 win over Burton Albion, Ward missed the midweek trip to Wycombe while Jack Hunt was also left out of the squad in its entirety. The latter’s absence was not the result of an injury but a case of managing minutes with the Rovers’ boss insists both players could return against The Cobblers.
“Hunty is fit, he was fit yesterday,” Calderon said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “It was just a matter of trying to check the loading.
“Wardy I think will be, I will say in contention. We will have to wait and check. He’s not fully fit today but I think he’s improving from Saturday. I told you I think yesterday, that’s the problem when you play so many in such short a period. He’s improving so hopefully he can be fit for Friday.
“I usually don’t speak about the ones who are not here because then you have to speak about Kamil [Conteh], you have to speak about Promise [Omochere], you have to speak about Romaine [Sawyers] and really I waste 15 seconds of my life talking about the ones who are not there so I prefer talking about the ones that are.”
Northampton currently sit 19th in League One, one place behind the Gas and just four points clear of the relegation zone. Kevin Nolan’s side have only lost one of their last three matches but come into Saturday afternoon’s game off of the back of a 2-0 defeat to high-flying Wrexham last time out.
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A win over The Cobblers would not only help Rovers pull further away from the relegation zone but also push Nolan’s side closer to the bottom four. Although February is a little bit too early in the season to be talking about six-pointers, Saturday afternoon’s clash isn’t a million miles away from being of that level of importance.
While Calderon understands just how crucial a first away win of February would be to the Gas this weekend, he is insistent that his messaging to the players will be no different in the run-up to this game than it has been in his tenure at The Mem so far.
“No,” the 43-year-old replied when asked if he would treat Saturday’s game differently to the clash with Wycombe. “We were talking yesterday and today about the plan for the game and I think it was in the media we were talking about the change I made at half-time [vs Wycombe]. It was because I thought we could win the game. I didn’t think we were doing enough things in the first half to win it.
“Yes, we were at 0-0 but I don’t go to places to draw. I don’t go to places to get one point, it’s not the way I am. I try to go to places and it doesn’t matter how they are. We went to Ipswich and tried to press them high. That could be naive, that could be too ambitious, but at the same time, it’s the way I live and I prefer to be proactive. I don’t like to wait for things to happen. Yesterday was an example, it probably didn’t work and that’s the way I am.”