Steve Evans wants his Bristol Rovers team to get back to winning ways in the M4 derby when the Gas welcome Swindon Town to The Memorial Stadium in Sky Bet League Two.
The Pirates had lost their previous four matches in the fourth tier, most recently falling 2-1 to league leaders Salford City at The Mem. However, Rovers' defeats do not show the full picture.
The Gas' club record 11-game winning run in the league ended with a 3-1 defeat to Barnet, but the Pirates were mostly the better side, taking an early lead through Ellis Harrison and dominating the contest before the Bees stung with three late goals.
Then, in the other home fixture against Salford, the Ammies took a two-goal advantage into half-time before Rovers bounced back and had plenty of chances to score, with Ellis Harrison hitting the bar with his penalty before Jack Sparkes netted from a free-kick.
Nevertheless, the Gas have dropped to 16th place, but will have confidence in getting a positive result in front of a packed crowd at The Mem. Speaking to the media before the game, Evans reflected on the recent home performances and previewed the match against the Robins.
INJURY UPDATES
"The only one that we'll be waiting on is Ellis Harrison. He's probably, at best, 50/50, but we'll give him an opportunity today to see how he comes through. If he doesn't come through, obviously, he'll be scanned this afternoon. But we'll see if he can train.
"Joe Quigley's better. Joe's improved. He just rolled his ankle on Monday, and to get Joe on the pitch at some stage on Tuesday speaks volumes for the big fella. Every day he's improved. In fact, it probably helped him getting on the pitch. Joe should train and should be fine.
"We're without several real A-lister players. When you take Riley Harbottle out, you take Tommy Leigh out, you take Aitchinson out, and you possibly take Ellis out, you start to think, would four or five of those players start? The answer is yes. But we have to deal with the ones we've got. The players who are in our focus, in our mind, are the boys who are available to play. That should be the only way it is."
LOOKING TO PERFORM FOR 90 MINUTES AT HOME
"I think the two games are different, aren't they? The Barnet game came really from a huge error and then a nutty moment from one of the best players, if not the best player, in League Two, in Tommy Leigh. So, that cost us against Barnet severely. I don't think anyone disputes that; even allowing for the big mistake we made that allowed them to equalise, I don't think anyone disagrees with my thoughts that the game would have probably run out 1-1 and not a 3-1 scoreline to Barnet.
"Then, obviously, the other night, we always knew that Salford were going to be a formidable opponent. I think they showed that for the first 20 to 25 minutes. We never really got to grips with the game. We probably sat off them and gave them too much respect, and that can happen.
"Then, when we realised at 2-0 that we couldn't be giving them any more respect and just needed to get in their faces and play. The words of the Salford manager will remain in my ears at the end of the game: 'No one will do that to us this season, but you did it to us tonight'. And I said, 'Yeah, but you got away with the three points'.
"So, they're totally different situations. But I know that for the M4 derby we need to be at our best; we need to be on the front foot, and we know that we need to get back to winning ways."
AWAY PERFORMANCES AND TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
"It's been hard to take. As I said, what made me angry driving home the other night was how we're performing away from The Mem rather than at The Mem because I know when we turn up at The Mem, I can rely on my players, at stages in the game, to be totally dominant. We've been dominant in every home game this season.
"It's principally the same players away. But I take ultimate culpability for the results here, no one else. You see people sending mixed messages out about whether Steve Evans is shying away from taking responsibility. They want to be in the building. I shield my players and I take responsibility. The players are not to blame. A lot of the time, it's me.
"I certainly can't look upstairs, because they've been fantastic. They've supported me, as they were for the three or four managers before me who've said different things when they left. If I ever left a football club, I wouldn't say anything different."
SWINDON TOWN PREVIEW
"What I do know is we're meeting a side that's gone to Barnet and produced a super performance. I've watched the full rerun of that and the edited highlights two or three times since. They thoroughly deserved to win and could have won by more in the end. Although, it has to be said, a bit like Barnet did to us, Swindon rode their luck at times, a bit 1-0, whereas Barnet did that here. Over the course of the season, we're due to score a few goals against them."
IAN HOLLOWAY’S ROVERS HISTORY
"The facts are he's loved by a large percentage of our fanbase, and so he should be. I've never had a bad word with Ollie. I think he had words with Paul Raynor last time, which I thought was out of order. But Ollie's a man of his own opinions, and that's what counts in his head. So, I'm sure he'll be looking forward to and fired up for the game tomorrow, as we all should be."
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO WIN
"I think a win in an empty Mem would be good for me, where I am at the minute. I've never had a run like this as a manager. It's been unprecedented. When we break down how we've lost, I can understand why every supporter, every player, and every member of staff is bamboozled by what we're delivering away from home.
"But we shouldn't have lost the last two games at The Mem. Anyone who says they've watched Barnet for 90 minutes and thinks we should lose that game, or they've watched Salford for 90 minutes and think we should lose that game, doesn't know a lot about football. That's how I feel. But we need to produce the second-half performance against Salford, and we need to produce the first 75 minutes against Barnet to beat Swindon.
"Swindon have had some notable results in recent weeks without getting recognised. Drawing with Walsall and probably should have won the game when you look at the highlights. Then there was a wonderful performance at Barnet. That was the result everyone in League Two looked at on Tuesday night when they saw Swindon had gone to Barnet and won so comfortably."
