Steve Evans is expecting a real test when Bristol Rovers travel to Notts County on the final day of the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two season.
The Pirates have won their last eight fixtures, something no other team in the English Football League has done this season and will be searching for a ninth straight victory to become the first team in England's top five leagues to achieve such a feat, with Premier League Aston Villa winning eight on the bounce earlier this term.
However, the Magpies have their own ambitions, with only a triumph on their minds. Three points on Saturday would give them a chance of gaining automatic promotion to Sky Bet League One, but with Cambridge United and Salford City also battling for the final spot, results will have to go their way.
Speaking to the media before the match, Evans analysed Rovers' upcoming opponents, delivered team news and reflected on the brilliant run of form.
PREPARATION FOR NOTTS COUNTY
“I think we’ve got a responsibility to those fighting for promotion, and Notts County are in a very privileged position. I’d love to be in that position myself. I’d love to be taking the Gas to be playing for promotion, but I’ve got a lot of respect for the owners at Notts County. Of course, I know the Director of Football there and Martin Paterson. I know them all well, and of course, they’re fighting for a great prize.
“But we have to do our level best to go there and not to spoil their party, it’s not about doing that, but it’s about keeping our integrity high, like when we played all of the teams fighting relegation, tomorrow.
“We’ve got plenty of Gas left. We’ve got really fit players. So, we’ll go there, and it’s a real test for us. It’s a test for individuals, isn’t it? We’re going against a team that, in my opinion, should be in the top three with the quality within the group. Patto has worked really hard to give them that opportunity, but it’s a test individually, to show that you can play at that level."
SQUAD NEWS
“We’re in a really good place. No excuses. Everyone in the squad is available for selection, but we’ll pick a team that we believe can win the game."
EXCELLENT RUN OF FORM
“It’s amazing what confidence does, and what a bit of sunshine does. Winning games, obviously, is the first factor in all of that. On the training ground, the club has been in a fantastic place for the last two or three months.
“We really started coming into our own, and that was largely attributed to keeping the better of the players that we had up until the January window, and then it’s fair to say that if we hadn’t brought the cavalry over the hill with the new players, then we’d be fighting tomorrow to stay up ourselves. The players are a total group, stood up to the test, and there is one final hurdle on Saturday.
LOVE FROM THE GASHEADS
“Our chairman and board know, when I met with them over the last couple of weeks, it’s the principal reason I stayed. Everyone likes to be liked; everyone loves to be loved if you can be. The Rovers fans, when I came in, would have been thinking, ‘right, let’s see what he can do here'.
“But with their support, which has been growing in numbers every time we’ve been playing, and Saturday is an example, taking almost 2,000 fans in a game that represents nothing for us, apart from three points and nine consecutive wins."
ACADEMY PLAYERS
“I think we’ve left it to Byron Anthony to give us a steer on who should be there, but we have a responsibility. If this had been a mid-table team we’re playing on Saturday, I would have certainly had young Kian Hill in the squad for sure. Probably young Ryan Howley as well, back, and obviously young Ollie Dewsbury is involved in the playoffs going forward, but those would have certainly come back.
“They can’t because we’re talking about Notts County playing for a place in League One at the sacrifice of two or three other outstanding football clubs who are fighting for a great prize. I know what it’s like. If I was Notts County, I would want Steve Evans to turn up with five kids, that’s what I would want.
"We have to go there and make sure that those other managers, when they look at our team on Saturday, they know we’ve turned up meaning business.”
PREVIOUS MEETING WITH THE MAGPIES
“I think it was like many games running up until Christmas, where we should have got something from if not, win. But sometimes there’s something in your chain, there’s a link or something, or two links missing.
“On those particular days, they didn’t have enough creativity of goal scorers. There were many chances through the goals from Notts County, but Notts County it a very different outfit for the last three months, as you can see with the points return. They’ll hopefully know they’re in a game on Saturday. Notts County have to rely on results elsewhere.
“I think there might be three stages in this game. There will be the first half, and in the first half I suppose there will be a fervent atmosphere, we’re taking a great support. This is becoming the norm, 2,000 fans traveling. It’s amazing.
“I think then the players will start to be aware of what is happening at Crewe with Cambridge, what’s happening down at Crawley with Salford and that will determine how that atmosphere goes. Does it go flat, and Martin Paterson suddenly thinks, it’s playoffs at 60 minutes in the game and protecting players, or is he thinking we’re in to win this because results are in our favour?"
