Match Previews

Match Preview | Bristol Rovers v Colchester United

15th January

Bristol Rovers v Colchester United
Sky Bet League Two, The Memorial Stadium, Saturday 17 January 2026, 3:00pm KO

Bristol Rovers will be looking to build on a positive performance against Plymouth Argyle when they host Colchester United in Sky Bet League Two.

The Pirates fell to a narrow defeat to the Pilgrims in a seven-goal thriller, with Aribim Pepple netting a stoppage-time winner in the Vertu Trophy Round of 16.

The Gas are back in Sky Bet League Two action for the first time since New Year's Day, where Fabrizio Cavegn scored a second-half hat-trick in a 3-0 victory away at Shrewsbury Town. Rovers then had their away fixture against Barrow postponed, meaning there was an almost two-week break between fixtures.

Colchester have now played since New Year's Day, when they beat promotion hopefuls Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 thanks to Jack Payne's late penalty.

Read everything you need to know about the fixture below...

Tickets...

Tickets are still available for our fixture at home to Colchester!

A streamlined pricing structure means a single price band is now operating at Bristol Rovers for the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two season, with Early Bird pricing available for online purchases up until the start of kick-off!

Tickets purchased in person at our Matchday Ticket Office will include a minor price increase of two pounds across the board, implemented to encourage supporters to purchase tickets in advance and help the Club to forecast required staffing and stewarding appropriately.

Get your tickets now here!

Memorial Fixture...

Rovers will be remembering supporters who passed away during 2025 on our home fixture against Colchester on Saturday.

As our dedicated Memorial Fixture, supporters will have the opportunity to celebrate the lives of Gasheads who are sadly no longer with us, and recognise their support and contribution to the Club.

The names of those being remembered will be displayed on the Big Screen.

Opposition...

Colchester are playing in Sky Bet League Two for the tenth straight season but have their eyes on promotion after a brilliant run of form under experienced Football League head coach Danny Cowley.

The U's had a slow start to the campaign and only claimed one win from their opening ten fixtures, but have been one of the stand-out teams ever since. An emphatic and out-of-the-blue 6-2 victory against Chesterfield started a revival, with the Essex-based club losing two out of their previous 14 matches.

They have had two sets of three consecutive victories and have claimed impressive triumphs over the likes of Walsall, Notts County and MK Dons. Colchester are well-rested after over two weeks without a fixture due to two postponements, so they will be ready to go at The Mem. Sitting only four points outside the play-offs with a game in hand on Chesterfield, this could be the season Colchester have a serious push towards promotion.

Previous Meetings...

Rovers are unbeaten in their last four meetings with Colchester, winning two and drawing two across all competitions. The game ended 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the JobServe Community Stadium, with Fabrizio Cavegn's opener cancelled out by Micah Mbick's second-half strike.

The last game at The Mem came in March 2022, with Elliot Anderson scoring the only goal. As for Colchester, their previous triumph at BS7 came in 2011, with Kayode Odejayi bagging the winner.