Steve Evans believes there is a real togetherness in the Bristol Rovers squad as the Gas get ready to travel to Cambridge United.
After nine players coming in and 12 going out in the January transfer window, Evans now has his squad that will tackle the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign.
Rovers will be hurting after losing a five-goal thriller against Chesterfield last weekend. However, after winning back-to-back victories against Newport County and Walsall prior, there will still be plenty of confidence in the group.
The Gas are now back on the road after three straight fixtures at The Memorial Stadium and are up against a Cambridge team in form and a head coach that Evans knows well in Neil Harris.
Speaking to the media before the game, Evans reflected on the week of training, deadline day and the test of Cambridge...
TIME ON THE TRAINING PITCH
"Yeah, it’s been great. To see the lads on the training ground working on some features that we’re trying to introduce, we can’t do it all as quickly as two or three weeks.
"So, it’s taken time, but we have a clear week where we’re able to adapt the process and bring it to life, and they’ve responded really, really well. So, we’re pleased with how the week’s gone."
REFLECTIONS ON THE LAST THREE GAMES
"Well, we’ve got lots of good players. I think six points out of nine is harsh on us. I think seven out of nine is fair. I don’t think over the 90 minutes, did we deserve to beat Chesterfield? But in the words of Paul Cook, they don’t deserve to beat us.
"It was a hard-fought contest, but so were the other two games. Newport was as tough as any of them, and of course, Walsall was probably the bit in the middle, I think. Chesterfield is the best team that we’ve played, since I’ve walked into the building, but they’ll be tough as, if not tougher opponents to come, including Saturday."
JOE QUIGLEY
"He adds to what we’ve got with Ellis. As we know, Ellis Harrison has been an absolute soldier; he’s been in the trenches because he’s had to play 70 per cent fit. He’s done it because I’ve sat him in the office and spoken to him about the importance of it, for the team, for the club and for himself, going forward with contracts.
"He’s delivered that, and this free week, if you like, has allowed us to take his emphasis down, but Joe Quigley has been a player whose aerial strength is well known to any team that he’ll ever play against. He came onto the pitch and made an immediate impact, and we should have to go on from there and get points.
"But we conceded a sloppy goal, so nothing against Joe. Joe is a terrific signing. Strength, physicality, makes and creates and will score a few precious goals."
SQUAD OPTIONS
"We’re in a much better place than where we were when we walked into the building. I think the owners are pleased with what we did in the transfer window. Ins and outs. I think it’s worked for us.
"We seem to have a real togetherness inside the training ground now, that perhaps wasn’t there. So, there’s a togetherness to fight for the cause and the cause is to, we can’t go away from the immediate aspect, is to keep this club in the EFL.
"Let’s get to the summer as a collective, as a group, everyone pulling in the same direction and the wonderful support you get here from the owners. I keep saying it, but I believe it. From Ricky, in particular, the transfer window has been amazing."
CAMBRIDGE UNITED PREVIEW
"When Neil Harris got reappointed, who is a friend of mine, I was on the phone with him when he was reappointed. He was one of the first to message me when I was appointed here.
"So, there’ll be no love lost between three o'clock and ten to five, or five to five by the time we’re back in our own dressing rooms, that’s for sure. We’ll both be competitive, but he’s done an outstanding job. He’s put a brilliant squad of players together; Paul Raynor watched them first-hand on Tuesday.
"Obviously, he lives close by, so he went and watched it. I watched it really intensely. I watched it back again yesterday, and we know what to expect. He’s got his football club in the shape that we’d like to have it a year down the line."
MORE ON NEIL HARRIS
"We’ve had some battles over the years. You know what, there’s always been a beer at the end of it. There’s always been a phone call on a Sunday from either party that feels more wounded than the other one, if you like.
"In terms of the demands of trying to win league points and cup ties. So, he’s done the type of job at Cambridge United that I thought he would do. He was in the process of doing it the first time, and then got head-hunted away. I can’t believe he lost his job where he was before.
"But he went back to Cambridge, and he’s certainly one of the tougher managers. Tactically and physically, and everything around it, when you come up against him on a Saturday against your club. For me, personally, he’s a tough manager to play against."
