Steve Evans has a strong squad to pick from when his Bristol Rovers team face Accrington Stanley at The Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Pirates will be full of confidence after winning five of their previous seven outings in Sky Bet League Two, with players in form and ready to finish the season strongly.
The Pirates came from behind to beat Gillingham on the road last weekend, recovering from a half-time deficit to win after goals from Alfie Kilgour and Ellis Harrison, with the Gas looking forward to playing in front of the Gasheads again.
Rovers have won five out of their last six fixtures at BS7, with Evans praising the work rate and the competition of his squad before previewing the upcoming match against Accrington.
TEAM NEWS
“We’ve got Shaq Forde back. Josh McEachran is in full training, so [we've got] the majority of the group. There's only Macauley Southam-Hales and Promise Omochere who are missing, and obviously, Yusuf Akhamrich is away on international duty.
“So, we’re very proud, and his family are that he has been chosen to step up, and it's only a question of when that young man will make his full international debut rather than U23s."
PICKING THE STARTING XI
“It’s easy, because we will pick what we regard as the best team for the job at hand, and we don’t always get it right, as any head coach doesn't. The boys are working incredibly hard, and they’re making competition for places fierce in some departments, and that’s what you need as a head coach, but you have to take yourself away from all of the views and all of the opinions that football brings. I'll sit down, and I'll pick the team.
GAME-CHANGING SUBSTITUTIONS
“I think there are two ways of looking at it. You’re brave in making three or four changes at the interval, or shortly after it. I don’t want to be brave, if I think that a change is due in the first half, I’ll make them in the first half. It’s just what you have to try and do to affect the game.
“You do reflect on the starting lineup and how you change it, but sometimes the opposition doesn’t line up and play as you had planned, so they change things around. “They’ve certainly changed from where we were pre-Christmas to where we are now.
GETTING TO SAFETY
"I like to win every game, but that’s a challenge that we’ve set the boys every time we play. Listen, I think if we get two wins, it’s going to take some unbelievable form and results from us to make it not mathematical.
“So, we’ve just got to keep our focus on Accrington. Like we said when we went to Gillingham, and before that, it was every other game. We’ve just got to keep our focus solely on Accrington. They gave us a bit of a beating up back in November, 3-1; it could have been five or six.
“So, there’s a little bit of reason to try and win the game, but they’ll come here, and they've got a good manager in John Doolan. I know Farrend Rawson, he's a captain and goal-scorer. I gave him his Football League debut back in the Rotherham days; he’s a great kid, but I want to see him sad on Saturday at five o’clock.
“You know, we’d be delighted to sit here, out of the relegation zone, but I fear if we strengthen further from the way we were in January, help them turn around form, I think there is no doubt that we’d seem to play everyone in the top seven or eight."
ACCRINGTON PREVIEW
“I’ve just got to keep focused on Accrington, and beyond that, Fleetwood and beyond that, Harrogate. We just need to keep focused on one game at a time. That’s a challenge to our players. We just have to deal with Accrington.
“What you’ve got is a good Accrington side in my opinion. Unlucky to lose to Chesterfield by 1-0 last week, but they gave the Gasheads a real drubbing up there in November. Three could have been five.”
ELLIS HARRISON’S PERFORMANCE LAST SATURDAY
“I'm absolutely delighted for Ellis. I often use the expression about certain players that if he were your son, you’d be immensely proud of him. I have a fantastic relationship with Ellis; he doesn’t always get him in the team. But I have a fantastic relationship, a lot of fun with him, and he really cares. You can see what the goal meant to him, and you can see what it meant to the supporters behind the goal on Saturday.”
