Rovers return to the Mem this Saturday as we welcome Northampton Town in the Sky Bet League Two.
Rovers head into the Sky Bet League Two fixture off the back of three away fixtures in a row. Rovers' last league win came against Harrogate Town with Nick Anderton netting his maiden goal in a Rovers shirt. In midweek, Rovers were knocked out of the Papa John's Trophy after a 5-3 away loss against Exeter City.
Manager's Preview
Rovers boss, Joey Barton spoke with local press at the Quarters on Friday morning. The Rovers manager gave his pre-match thoughts ahead of the game on Saturday.
"Northampton are on a good little run themselves, I think they’ve won four on the spin.
In our stadium, we want to start to make the Mem a really tough place to come. We haven’t managed to do that consistently enough.
Away from home, we’ve been hard to beat and we’ve shown a bit of resilience. At home, we need to galvanise our fanbase by putting in a solid performance and winning a game of football."
Player Preview
Rovers winger, Harry Anderson also spoke with local press on Friday morning. Harry spoke about how he is adapting to his new role in the team.
"It’s good that the gaffer trusts me to be able to play in lots of different positions and I’m enjoying it.
Wing-back’s always a tough role. There’s always a lot of running involved, but I don’t really mind it to be fair. I was a winger before, so I’ve got the attacking attributes.
Now it’s just the defensive bits I’ve got to be more aware of and work on those parts of the game."
Form Guide
Northampton Town currently occupy 3rd place in the Sky Bet League Two with 27 points from 15 games so far this season. The Cobblers are currently on a 4 game winning streak in the league with their last defeat coming away against Hartlepool United. Jon Brady's side have scored 20 goals from their 15 league fixtures so far this season and average 11.5 shots per game in the Sky Bet League Two.
Midfielder, Sam Hoskins currently tops the goalscoring charts in the league for Northampton. Hoskins had found the net on 4 occasions in the Sky Bet League Two this season and has also registered 2 assists in his 13 appearances. The Englishman has a WhoScored.com overall rating of 7.34 in the league this season.
View From the Press Bench
James Heneghan, Northampton Town reporter for the Northampton Chronicle has provided an insight on what to expect from Saturday's opponents.
"Northampton Town have been fast out of the traps on their return to League Two this season following a summer of major change both on and off the pitch. A whole host of summer signings, plus changes behind the scenes, did not stop them from winning four of their first seven matches to briefly sit third in the table.
A wobble then followed, suffering back-to-back defeats to Sutton and Hartlepool, but a switch in formation to 4-4-3 in early October coincided with a dramatic change in fortunes as four successive wins, all without conceding, moved them back up to third ahead of Saturday's game at Bristol Rovers.
Their excellent start to the season has been built on a rock-solid defence, led by centre-backs Jon Guthrie and Fraser Horsfall. They have kept nine clean sheets in 15 league games, the joint-most in the EFL.
Young striker Kion Etete, on loan from Tottenham, has been highly impressive up front while attacking midfielder Paul Lewis is in fine goalscoring form with four goals in his last two games. Mitch Pinnock and Sam Hoskins are also a threat from out wide, combining for seven assists between them."
Ref Watch
Sam Allison is the appointed official for Saturday's contest. Allison has taken charge of 14 fixtures so far this season, producing 56 yellow cards and 5 red cards, with three red cards coming during Shrewsbury's fixture against Oldham. In total, Allison has officiated 21 Sky Bet League Two fixtures, averaging 23 yellow cards and 2.81 yellow cards.
Betting Preview
EFL sponsors, Sky Bet have priced Rovers at 8/5 for the win on Saturday. On the goal scorer markets, Antony Evans is priced at 6/1 to score at any time throughout Saturday's fixture.
To bet with Sky Bet please click HERE. Please bet responsibly.
How to Watch
Due to the international break, Saturday's game is live on iFollow. So far this season, the club has sold over 7,000 iFollow match passes - which is the largest number of match passes sold by a Sky Bet League Two club so far this season. The football club receives a large proportion of the match pass fee - meaning that purchasing an iFollow pass is a great way to back your football club. Buy a match pass by clicking HERE.
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