Stephan Negru is looking forward to making his first appearance at The Memorial Stadium as Bristol Rovers prepare to welcome Gillingham in Sky Bet League Two.
The Pirates recovered from a difficult October, only winning one of their five fixtures across all competitions with a battling victory over Bromley in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup last time out. Fabrizio Cavegn and Joel Cotterill scored in a narrow 2-1 win, earning Rovers a second-round draw against Sky Bet League One outfit Port Vale.
The Gas will now be searching for their first victory on home soil since a dramatic comeback win over Salford City at the end of September. Negru, who joined on loan from Oxford United on Deadline Day, has played three times for Rovers across three competitions, but has yet to play at The Mem.
The centre-back is excited to play at the home of the Pirates for the first time.
"I can’t wait," he said. "I’ve been on the bench now twice at The Mem, and the atmosphere and everything is electric. So, I can’t wait to play in front of the fans and try to show them what I can do."
It has been a long road to recovery for Negru, who missed months of action due to a serious injury. The centre-back missed several fixtures for the Pirates after signing in the final hours of the summer transfer window but is now back fit and is fighting for his place in the side.
Negru is back doing what he loves and wants to do everything he can to help Rovers this season.
"I love playing football, so it’s been a tough and long road for me," said Negru. "This injury has been a complicated one, but I’m happy that I have got through it now and I can enjoy playing football and do what I love.
"I had a double hernia, and the surgery complicated a few things. I was out for seven to eight months, but we’ve passed it now, so I’m now looking forward to the future and trying to play football and trying my best to help this club."
After 45 minutes against Cheltenham in the Vertu Trophy and 33 minutes against Crawley Town in Sky Bet League Two, Negru played his first full match for the Gas against Bromley.
He was partnered alongside Tom Lockyer in a fixture that proved to be a tough challenge, with the Ravens attempting to test the Gas' defence at every opportunity, looking to get the ball into the box constantly and use their height and strength to their advantage. Rovers stood firm to the test, with Negru loving the challenge.
"They are the type of games that I love as a defender," he said. "I like scrapping and battling through games, and that’s what I love. That’s why I am a defender. So, I was just over the moon to play my first 90 [minutes] in so long, especially as we’re into the next round, it was a bonus. I was buzzing."
The Gas have plenty of options at centre-back, with Negru, Lockyer, Taylor Moore, Alfie Kilgour, Clinton Mola and Kacper Lopata all able to play at the heart of the defence. With plenty of options and a variety of skillsets, Negru is pleased with the competition in the squad and insisted they all learn and push each other in training.
"We have a lot of good players in the squad, especially at centre-back as well, which is an added bonus because I think competition is healthy within the group," said Negru. "It pushes everyone day in, day out in training, and it keeps the competition to fight for places.
“I back myself to be ahead of my competitors, but it helps us to get better day in, day out, and we also take on stuff from each other, and we learn from each other. There are experienced centre-backs here.”
Negru already has plenty of experience in Sky Bet League Two after playing 30 matches for Salford City in the fourth-tier last term. Assessing the league, the centre-back pinpointed the physical nature of the division and insisted the main thing for the Gas is that they stick together to get through a tough run of form.
It’s a very physical league. You have to earn the right to play, you have to battle, and then you can show your quality on the ball. No game is an easy game in League Two. I feel like teams scrap it out, and they give it their all, and you have to be on it 100 per cent every game.
"I enjoy scrapping it out and it does get tough, but I think the collectiveness in the team is massive because if you stick together through tough games and win the odd one-nil's, they are massive and you just need to keep fighting week in and week out."
"Our squad is more than capable of kicking on now. We’ve had quite a bad patch, and they come and go in football, but we have a good collectiveness in the squad, and we know the quality in the changing room. We got our first win since the little bad patch against Bromley, and we 100 per cent."
