Steve Evans wants to give the 2,303 Gasheads something to cheer about at The Nigel Eady County Ground when Bristol Rovers travel to Swindon Town for Saturday's early kick-off.
In what is set to be a fierce M4 derby, the Pirates will go into the contest with confidence after a 3-1 victory over Grimsby Town last weekend. The Mariners were unbeaten in ten outings in Sky Bet League Two and had kept four straight clean sheets in the fourth tier, but could not handle Rovers' fast start.
Kofi Balmer and Joe Quigley scored for the Pirates before Andy Cook got one back for the visitors, but Yusuf Akhamrich got Rovers' third after the break. As for Swindon, they lost to Crewe Alexandra in their last match. However, they will be desperate to get back to winning ways to keep their hopes of automatic promotion well and truly alive.
Speaking to the media before the game, Evans previewed the game against Swindon and delivered team news.
REFLECTING ON THE GRIMSBY VICTORY
“Well, a favourite [formation] would be a winning one. We have various formations that we can play. You know, we started with one system on Saturday, and when Grimsby picked it up, we changed that around at half-time.
“That allowed us to dominate the game against what I think is a really good Grimsby team. So, it was a good win, adeserved win, it could have been a lot more comfortable, and it allowed us to sit there and take the last 15 minutes with ease. That’s not us, so we had to fight until the end. But a really good win, and we have to do that because teams around us are winning."
JOE QUIGLEY IN THE GOALS
“Yeah, listen. Joe is a massive player for us. We said that when he came in. He has the DNA of an Evans and Paul Raynor signing, if you would like. We've always gone with a guy up there who can take the bangs and the knocks and not only create and score but more or less take the buffeting team for the team, and Joe took a lot of that.
“If it’s next season and we’ve put a promotion squad in place, which will be the plan, we’ll get 18, 20 goals. I can put the kettle on for that, providing he stays injury-free, because we'll get him in the box and we'll feed him into the box more than other teams do."
TEAM NEWS
“Well, we may have Shaq, we’ll see how today and tomorrow go. We might have Shaq Forde available to us, maybe at a push. Riley Harbottle certainly won’t be available to us, but we’re certainly hoping he can be available for Crewe.
“He [Forde] just banged his head on the floor. It wasn’t a head-to-head; he just came down after winning a good challenge, and he just doesn’t feel right in himself. If it were my son, I would want the utmost care and attention taken for him.
“We have a duty of care to make sure that Shaq feels and is 100 per cent. You can’t be any more than 100. So, he may be 95 per cent, but 95 is not 100. So, I’m taking it on as almost a fatherly approach, which I do with the players, making sure that he’s alright.
“I would say for Josh, probably the weekend after Crewe, perhaps Barrow in midweek. Then the weekend after, so he’s probably two weeks away.”
PROMISE OMOCHERE
“He's back in the full group now. He has been for the best part of two weeks. He’ll obviously get fitter and more match-fitter, the more minutes he gets, there’s no doubt in my mind. I know Promise very much so, more from Fleetwood than from Bristol Rovers, but when he was a handful, he’d get goals. A sharp promise would get two or three goals on Saturday when he comes onto the pitch.
“So, we’re now pleased we’ve got him back in the group, because he can certainly be a big player for us. He is a big player and will be a big player.
“He can play on the left, he can play on the right, he can play centrally. He’s a big player. He’s a big, strong boy whose technique is normally really good, so we’re looking forward to helping him develop further, because there are some things we’ve noticed in his game that we will need to work on to help him improve.”
SWINDON PREVIEW
"Derbies are always about the fans. It’s always about making sure that you’ve got the bragging rights on Saturday night, Sunday and Monday. We know what happened earlier in the season when Swindon came here.
“We’re obviously not going to be like that. We’re going to be competitive all over the pitch, and we know the tasks at hand. They lost last week, but they’re normally strong, especially at home. They’ll have a good fan base behind them; they’re brilliant supporters. I’m looking forward to taking the Gas to Swindon and coming away with something.
“In terms of Swindon Town Football Club, they’re underachieving; they should be higher up the pyramid. That’s other people, that’s Clem and Ollie’s things to worry about, mine’s just to make sure we’re here next season, to be able to produce the type of challenge they’re producing.”
ROVERS’ POSITION IN THE TABLE
“The players know we’re not safe. If they don’t know we’re not safe now, they’ll never know. You’re never safe in this league until you’ve got enough points, and you’re playing with a consistency factor and winning games, and we can see what three or four wins does. You can see what it's done to Shrewsbury, and you can see what it'll do to any team in that bottom group, and we have to make sure that we're one of them.
“Certainly, I’ve felt since I’ve come in, every team that we’ve played is a top team, and it happens again on Saturday. So, when you’re up there, challenging like a Swindon, you’ve got to beat the top and the bottom as equal. So, we look forward to a challenge on Saturday; we’ll look forward to going to Swindon. Let’s hope it’s a Steve Evans team that produces the performance on the pitch.”
