Steve Evans knows what Bristol Rovers must do to get a positive result from the Gas' final fixture of 2025 against Barnet.
The Pirates will end the year at The Memorial Stadium, looking to claim their first victory in Sky Bet League Two since the end of September. Despite falling to a 3-2 defeat against Bromley, there were steps in the right direction against the Ravens, with efforts from Jack Sparkes and Fabrizio Cavegn giving Rovers a two-goal lead at half-time before the visitors staged an impressive comeback.
A red card for Shaq Forde saw the Gas go down to ten men, with a goal from Nick Kabambab and a brace by Ben Thompson helping Bromley secure the points. Nevertheless, Evans was delighted with the first 53 minutes of the performance and wants Rovers to bring it into the game on Monday night.
Speaking to the media, Evans previewed the clash against Barnet and discussed how much of a challenge they will bring to The Mem.
FESTIVE FIXTURE SCHEDULE
"The key is to get the group as fresh as we can. We know that we have limited availability of players in certain positions, but bouncing back from Boxing Day will be key for us. There is not a Gashead who has gone home and thought that for 53 minutes it was not an outstanding performance, because it was. We need to produce more of that, and as we’ve proven at this level, keep 11 men on the pitch.
"We look at that Barnet side, I watched the game a few weeks ago when Barnet beat the Gas before, and it could have been more, so we need to make sure we’re fresh and ready."
LEARNING ABOUT THE PLAYERS
"I think we learnt lots after Crewe, during and after, when you do your analysis and more against Bromley. They are two good sides. Crewe are challenging at the top end of the table, trying to cement that playoff place, and Bromley are second in the table and cemented it with a win here.
"We know what we have to do. The first thing we have to do is be disciplined individually, and we can’t be ill-disciplined, which happened on Boxing Day, because it costs you."
BARNET PREVIEW
"I think they press really hard. I think they have a front two that causes havoc. We didn’t have any control in the game, and it could have been more. Barnet have been a really strong side since they’ve come up. They have a good manager in Dean Brennan, and we need to be prepared.
"We said to the boys at half-time on Boxing Day that you have to be ready for the second half. We were ready for the second half, just ill-discipline let us down. Let's have no ill-discipline and a performance. If we get a performance that we had for up to 53 minutes on Boxing Day for most weeks, we’ll win most weeks."
TEAM NEWS
"What we’ve got is what we’ve got. There’s no point in worrying or not sleeping about the players that we’ve not got. We have to worry and not sleep about the players that we’ve got, if that makes sense, because I can’t affect the ones we’ve not got, but we can affect, hopefully positively, the ones we’ve got.
"On Boxing Day, we had a real kick in the stomach, so there’s one way you react to that, which is to prove that it's a one-off, but with ten men, it was always going to be tough."
