Rovers Hope For A Change In Luck

It's times like these that have fans split down the middle as to whether the distraction of cup football is a help or a hindrance. Without a ninety minute win in five games Bristol Rovers had their pride damaged by a 4-1 defeat away at Crawley Town on Saturday, the Reds one of the sides they were supposedly competing with for the League 2 title.

The early season tips of promotion have thus far been found wanting as Rovers sit 14th in the division, not languishing in the grand scheme of things but for a set of supporters whose hopes were raised by the high calibre of pre-season performances and the encouraging words that rolled off Paul Buckle's tongue their start has been none to impressive. Out of the last 270 minutes of football played only 45 have been up to the expected standard, though by that time they were already 2-0 down to Leyton Orient.

The entirety of the team are yet to perform in sync this season, when the defence have held firm the forwards have been found wanting and vice-versa. When the Pirates do hit their rhythm and produce that elusive complete performance you feel that they will be hard to handle, what remain are the questions of when such a display will be produced and whether it can be built upon in time for a tilt at promotion, play-off or otherwise.

This will be the fourth week in a row that the Gas have played Saturday-Tuesday games, the postponement of their first round Carling Cup tie can field the blame for that, and while fatigue should not be a major factor at such an early stage of the season it could end up being a key element against a Wycombe side who will come into the game refreshed, having not played for ten days. Saturday's League 1 fixture with Preston was postponed due to the number of Deepdale based players on international duty, giving Gary Waddock's men a break from competition.

Having started their league season unbeaten in three the Chairboys have proceeded to lose their last two on the trot as well as receiving a 4-1 thumping by Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. The only side they have managed a victory over this term are bottom of the table Leyton Orient who only claimed their first point last weekend in a basement clash with Chesterfield.

Wanderers have shared their nine goals around, only Joel Grant and Scott Donnelly making it past the lonely one while Rovers can boast only one man who can claim such an accolade, former Wycombe striker Matt Harrold netting three goals.

Harrold is not the only player who has played in the sky and navy blue quarters either, both Scott McGleish and Chris Zebroski have been a part of Wycombe line-ups in seasons gone by. On the other side the Chairboys squad contains no less than two ex-Gasmen, wing back Andy Sandell spent a season at the Memorial Stadium, winning promotion via the League 2 play-offs in the process, while central defender James Tunnicliffe was a member of the Rovers squad that was relegated from the third tier last season.

Since then, and since last years Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie, the two clubs have switched both divisions and seasonal targets, Rovers looking for promotion while Wycombe will attempt to stave off the drop come May. That JPT game, also played at Adams Park, saw the Pirates address a poor run of form with an enthralling 6-3 away win, Jo Kuffour scoring a hat-trick in the process, Scott Rendell snapping up the three Wanderers goals on that occasion.

Kuffour is unlikely to trouble Wycombe in this seasons meeting though, the striker looking to orchestrate a move away from Bristol, closer to his London home, Wanderers one of the clubs linked with the tricky forward on a seasons loan deal.

Left back Gary Sawyer could make his first appearance of the season in Buckinghamshire as he looks to have recovered well from a hernia operation. Joe Anyinsah will be missing, once again with a hamstring injury, while Adam Virgo is a doubt with a calf strain. Defender Cian Bolger is definitely out with an ankle ligament injury while Chris Zebroski could be on the sidelines having taken a big hit against Crawley.

Six Shooters

Bristol Rovers went some way to airing out the ghosts of Saturdays FA Cup loss to Darlington as they moved into the southern area semi finals of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a 6-3 victory away at Wycombe. A Jo Kuffour hattrick, a Chris Lines run and strike, a Jeff Hughes penalty and a late goal from Ben Swallow gave the Gas the win, Scott Rendell scoring all three goals for the home side.

There were three players coming into the side from the weekends game as keeper Mikkel Andersen, captain Stuart Campbell and striker John Akinde returned to the side. Charlie Reece was set to once again start on the right hand side of midfield but a back injury in the warm up forced Paul Trollope into a pre-match replacement, Wayne Brown taking the youngsters place. Wycombe made a large number of changes from their win over Hayes & Yeading which included dropping top scorer and ex-Rovers player Andy Sandell.

The match stats on the BBC website show that nine goals were scored from seven shots on target, penalties not included, while Wayne Brown hit the Wycombe woodwork on two occasions. This will be heartwarming for Bristol Rovers who have found it difficult to convert more chances than their opponents in recent games, not winning in four previous attempts. It is also comforting that these six goals were scored without the assistance of top scorer Will Hoskins who, it has been confirmed, will be out for 4-6 weeks with a badly sprained ankle.

The result and the manner of the performance will relieve some of the pressure on the Rovers manager but fans will want this brand of football to continue into the next match with Leyton Orient on Saturday before Rovers face a tricky spell of fixtures that include away games at Brighton, Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday as well as a home game against high fliers Bournemouth.

The manager was pleased with his sides performance as he told bristolrovers.co.uk:

"We played some very, very, good football in the two games prior to coming here, and got nothing.

"We tried to be a little bit more penetrative tonight, and a little bit more progressive in our play, and get the front two in the game in different ways and it worked.

"We came here to win the tie, and we managed that. There were some good individual performances out there, a good spirit, and a very good attitude after the disappointment of Saturday.

"It was a positive performance, full of spirit and endeavour, and that's the base requirement for a team to be successful and win games. We tried to put a little bit more tempo in our play to et a little bit more of a cutting edge and I think we got that, as we scored six and could probably have had a few more."

Wycombe manager Gary Waddock tried to take the positives from his sides attacking performance, but admitted that defensively they weren't good enough, he spoke to BBC Three Counties Radio after the game:

"Defensively it wasn't our best performance. With the attacking threat they've got, opportunities came and they took them.

"It's an incredible scoreline, it just goes to show we can score goals.

"But it shows that defensively tonight we weren't good enough as individuals and as a unit."

The other three sides through to the southern section semis are Brentford, Charlton and Exeter. Rovers will hope to avoid the Addicks if they are to have a chance to reach the southern area final which will be a two-legged affair before the chance to reach Wembley and face the winners of the northern section of the draw. Soccer AM presenters Helen Chaimberlain and Max Rushden will make the draw for the next round this coming Saturday while the area semi finals will take place over the 30th of November and 1st of December.

In other Rovers related news winger Mark Wright, currently out on loan at Shrewsbury Town, has been rumoured to return in a recall, however, he has denied this on social networking site Twitter, telling numerous fans that he is enjoying his time with the Shrews.

The Gas can go into Saturdays game with Leyton Orient with a good level of confidence in their ability following the Wycombe result where they will hope to get back to winning ways in the league and start climbing back up the table.