It's fair to describe what Stuart Campbell has performed during his brief stint in charge of Bristol Rovers as wizardry. The player-manager has saddled a brand new broomstick and taken the club for a ride but he may have to wave his wand with a little more verve if he is to take anything out of Tuesday nights game against AFC Bournemouth.
The Cherries appear to have a curse over Rovers, claiming victory the last five times the sides have met, with an aggregate score of nine goals to one. Those games occurred in little over a year and saw three cup ties played. Jo Kuffour, now of Rovers, scored two against his current club during his time at Dean Court while Sammy Igoe, scorer of goals at both the Millenium Stadium and Wembley for the Gas, netted for the south coast side the season after he left Rovers in 2008.
Rovers last beat Bournemouth in 2006, Richard Walker scoring the winner in an FA Cup replay but in order to find a league victory for the Gas you have to go back to 2001, a Nathan Ellington two minute double salvo earning them a 2-1 win by the sea. Travel a further two seasons and you will see a Pirates home win, nearly thirteen years ago in 1998, Jame Shore grabbing the only goal of a game that saw referee Gurnam Singh card happy, sending off both Rob Trees and Jason Roberts for the home side.
Looking at the league table you'd think that none of this was about to change but the two sides have seen changes in fortune over recent weeks.
Since Stuart Campbell took over the Rovers reins from Dave Penney the Pirates have lost just a single game, having two late equalisers controversially disallowed against Huddersfield, winning three and drawing the final game of the Scottish youth internationals spell. Rovers have collected ten points out of the last fifteen, a decent return for a team that had previously won only twice in a staggering 22 games, a record that saw them drop from 9th down to 23rd in the League One standings.
All three of those wins since have been away from home though, and Rovers have struggled in their own backyard, just two wins have been witnessed by the Memorial Stadium crowd in the last six and a half months. The last two home games, however, have shown much more spirit among the players and fans alike, the last game at the Mem finishing 2-2 against a free-scoring Peterborough outfit riding high and fighting for automatic promotion. Bournemouth, on the other hand, look out of sorts.
The Cherries haven't won any of their last five games, losing three in a row before earning two consecutive draws. Their last result came on the road, a 3-3 draw with Peterborough, and the three goals could all be described as fortuitous in their nature.
First of all Boro keeper Joe Lewis flew off his line to punch away a corner, failing to connect and allowing Danny Ings to prod home. Steve Fletcher looped a header in from the tightest of angles and then Adam Smith hit a grasscutting shot that rolled agonisingly under the right arm of Lewis, compounding a dreadful night for the unfortunate custodian.
Bournemouth have had to endure the loss of three key men this season, namely Brett Pitman, Josh McQuoid and Eddie Howe. Pitman, scorer of 28 goals last term, left just three games into the season, scoring a hat-trick against Peterborough that drew attention from Premier League Blackpool, the striker eventually joining Bristol City for a rumoured £1million fee.
Fans could have lost hope but up stepped young Northern Irishman Josh McQuoid who scored 12 goals in 18 games including hat-tricks in consecutive matches before signing for Millwall, initially on loan before a permanent deal was struck in January. Howe, a defender who made 313 appearances for Bournemouth, took over as first team manager on New Years Eve 2008 and has never looked back since.
In his first half season in charge he hauled in a seven point deficit to avoid relegation, having started the season on -17 points. His first full season in charge saw the Cherries finish as runners up to Notts County, earning promotion to League 1, all despite having a transfer embargo hanging over their heads. By the time he left for Burnley in January he had lead his side to 3rd in the League 1 table, that despite losing two prolific strikers and having minimal transfer funds to play with. Lee Bradbury was placed in temporary charge, going on a ten game unbeaten spell before the recent dip in form.
Bournemouth carry a great deal of their threat from the wide areas and the Rovers full backs will have to watch out for both Marc Pugh and Liam Feeney come game time. Pugh, signed from Hereford in the summer, leads the way in both Bournemouth's goals and assists columns, totalling at 13 and 11 respectively. Feeney has created a further eight goals for his side but is the much more exciting player to watch. He possesses great pace and likes to take on his man, wreaking havoc whichever wing he is on, having the ability to both cut in and shoot or push around his defender and cross.
Undeniably the Bristol Rovers man in form is goalkeeper Conrad Logan and Bournemouth will have to work hard to get the ball past the Irish keeper. Since joining Logan has become a highly popular stopper, two penalty saves in two games and a host of other fine saves have seen him deserving the Rovers man of the match title on numerous occasions. He again proved to be in inspired form when Rovers faced Yeovil on Saturday, taking all three points away from Huish Park, a diving save to keep out Adam Virgo the pick of a bunch of fine blocks.
This will be the third attempt to play this fixture, the original tie was scheduled to be played on December 4th but the winter snowstorm paid an end to that. The re-arranged tie in February was again postponed due to a waterlogged playing surface at the Memorial Stadium, Cherries gaffer Lee Bradbury not taking kindly to the late call off, the pitch inspection not taking place until 6PM when his team and many of their fans had already travelled.
Rovers are likely to name an unchanged line up from Saturday's win over Yeovil, though Gavin Williams match-winning substitute performance did stake a claim for a place in midfield.
Despite having served his two match ban Gary Sawyer is highly likely to be missing after picking up a groin injury in training.
Ben Swallow has returned to training this week but will not be fit in time for this clash.
Michael Symes will not recover from his abductor muscle injury before kick off but veteran forward Steve Fletcher could move up from the bench after coming on and scoring in the Cherries last game. That also means Steve Lovell, who returned to the bench on Friday night, will have to make do with a sub role.
Influential midfielder and captain Danny Hollands will face a fitness test to see if he has recovered from a knock on his foot suffered against Peterborough.
Assistant manager Craig Hinton was the man to step up and face the Bristol press, talking of the spirit in the camp and how it can carry them through their next big test:
"There is a lot of confidence about the place at the moment, and we have got to take that momentum and take each game as it comes. It is both in our hands and out of our hands at the same time.
"It is going to be a tough game, they are a good side, they are near the top for a reason, but we are looking forward to it. If we go out and keep producing what we have for the last few games, you never know.
"We have not done well against them in recent times, but hopefully the voodoo will turn. There is a lot at stake at the moment, so hopefully that bad run will stop and we will take three points tomorrow."
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