Walsall Preview

The tides are changing. A win over local rivals Swindon a week ago has transformed the mindset of the Bristol Rovers fanbase and the new found confidence looks to have spread throughout the club. The players are upbeat and the manager is hard at work trying to bring new blood into the squad, and quickly too.

Dave Penney has come out and stated his belief that he will have at least one new man in before the Walsall game this weekend. Speaking to bristolrovers.co.uk he said:

"The problem we have got is Colesy and Linesy both missing two games through suspension.

"We have a problem with centre midfield we have to address, and we have been trying to do that all week on the phone.

"We will get someone in before the weekend I would think, hopefully in a couple of positions.

"It is a difficult during the window, everyone wants a permanent deal, but we have to make sure we get the right one, not just anybody.

"I have been on the phone and watching games and I am trying to bring the right one in. Hopefully we will either do it later today or tomorrow."

And he hasn't disappointed.

Friday afternoon came the announcement that Penney had signed forward Rene Howe from Peterborough United, initially on a months loan. 24 year old Howe started his career with his home town club Bedford United before moving onto Conference North side Kettering who he helped reach second place in the league with 25 goals and from there he moved onto his current parent club Peterborough. To date he has made only three starts for the London Road club, scoring just a single goal.



Much of Howe's time has seen him out on loan, scoring 9 in 23 for Rochdale and 12 in 41 for Morecambe, both spells in League 2. Further loan terms saw him spend time at Gillingham, then in League 1, and Lincoln last season and at the beginning of this footballing year the 6ft striker went to Conference side Rusdhen & Diamonds, netting 6 times in 20 appearances and leaving with Diamonds manager Justin Edinburgh claiming numerous Football League sides were interested in claiming the strikers signature. Some fans of LivingTV's reality show Dating In The Dark may also remember Howe's appearance on the programme, which didn't end particularly well and saw him described as a 'cocky footballer' by the Sky TV Guide.

And just a couple of hours later details of another loan signing were released in the form of Scott Davies of Reading. Davies began his youth career at Watford before joining Wycombe and then current club Reading. Oppurtunities at the Madejski have been limited for the 22 year old who has spent a great deal of time out on loan, spending two seasons with Aldershot, who gained promotion from the Conference National with Davies in the side, scoring 13 goals in his second spell with the Shots in League 2. Two stints back at Wycombe and a short loan to Yeovil followed to give the midfielder a decent level of Football League experience.

The issue at the centre of defence looks to have been solved, Dave McCracken coming into the team and putting in two commanding performances at the back and young Cian Bolger taking a place on the bench for the last two home games. Whether Bolger will remain with Rovers beyond the initial one month loan he is on is yet to be seen as Danny Coles will be coming back into contention when his ban is over after the midweek MK Dons game. Penney has also come out and said that he hopes to get David McCracken on a loan deal until the end of the season on Monday while young midfielder Charlie Clough has joined Weymouth, bottom of the Southern League Premier Division, on a months loan deal.

There has been no indication from anyone within Rovers as to who might be coming in, although the three key positions for Penney to bolster are on the right and in the centre of midfield and a target man to give his side a different option if the game requires it. There had been talk of a Rovers return for Paul Heffernan but that was dependent on Wednesday manager Alan Irvine bringing in either of the Notts County strikers Lee Hughes and Craig Westcarr, neither of which has come off and with pressure mounting on Irvine it could be that the manager leaves before a deal could be made.

At the start of the month bottom of the table Walsall sacked manager Chris Hutchings and ever since Dean Smith has been in charge. Smith was promoted from heading the clubs youth section and has taken three points from the five games he has been in charge of the club for, including a draw away at the Memorial Stadium earlier this month. After his spell as caretaker boss he was confirmed as Hutchings permanent replacement on January 21st and has since lost to Exeter and drawn with Oldham. There will be one signing making his Walsall debut this weekend, Jason Price, whom Walsall have acquired on a one month loan deal from Carlisle.

It has been seven long games since Walsall claimed a victory, that coming against Charlton in a surprise result at the Valley, the only game the Saddlers played in December. Since then Walsall have conceded 19 goals so Rovers can go into the game confident that they can put the ball in the net. Walsall are still nine points off of safety and have been way off the pace all season, going out of the League Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy to Tranmere and Chesterfield respectively. They also required a replay to get past Conference National side Fleetwood in the first round of the FA Cup before losing to another lower division side in Torquay in the second round.

Rovers much needed triumph over Swindon was their first in 13 league games since a 2-1 win against Rochdale in mid October but for their last away win you have to look back to the start of that month, Will Hoskins bending in a superb late winner at the Galpharm Stadium against Huddersfield. There have been two heavy defeats on the road since then, a 6-2 loss to Sheffield Wednesday standing out, especially having gone a goal to the good. Recently there was also a 4-0 defeat at Carlisle where Rovers finished the game with ten men. Despite being two points off of 20th placed Swindon it is likely that Rovers will need to make up three points on their rivals, owing to their -16 goal difference.



The only link between the two sides is Walsall defender Aaron Lescott. The full back joined Rovers under then manager Ian Atkins, having originally been loaned out to Rovers from Stockport County. In six years at Rovers he made 234 appearances, scoring five goals, netting his first in a brace against Walsall. After failing to win his place back in the Rovers squad following injury Lescott was sent out on loan to Cheltenham before Paul Trollope released him at the end of the 2009/10 season.

The two sides have played each other 94 times in their history. The first match came way back in 1927 and Rovers went on to win the first six meetings between the sides. More recent meetings have been even, however, although the two games from the 2008/09 season are notable for nine goals being scored over their two matches. In September 2008 Walsall came, saw and conquered at the Mem, coming through with a 3-1 margin of victory thanks to two goals from Michael Ricketts, one of which was a penalty, and a strike fro Stephen Roberts. Steve Elliott scored for Rovers and Byron Anthony was sent off, the more remarkable scoreline came at the Bescot six months later, however. Just six minutes in Rovers were two goals to the good thanks to Darryl Duffy and Craig Disley before Aaron Lescott scored his first for Rovers to make it 3-0 within 20 minutes. Duffy was again on the scoresheet in the second half and Lescott got his second to round off a miserable afternoon for the Saddlers as it finished 5-0 to the away side.

New loan signing Rene Howe will go straight into the squad to face Walsall, but is unlikely to dislodge either top scorer Will Hoskins or the in form Jo Kuffour from the starting line up. Scott Davies will also join him in the squad but Cian Bolger is likely to miss out as Rovers are only aloud to name five loan players in their matchday squad.

Both Chris Lines and Danny Coles will be unavailable for Rovers due to suspension, Lines for picking up his tenth yellow card of the season against Swindon while Coles will be serving the third of his four match ban following his second red card of the season at Carlisle. Both will also be missing from the match against MK Dons on Wednesday.

Walsall will give a debut to new loan signing Jason Price who joined from Carlisle on Friday as long as all of the necessary paperwork goes through in time.

Manny Smith and Richard Taundry are facing fitness tests having been left out of the squad for Tuesday's game against Oldham.

Former Bristol City striker Darren Byfield has failed to fully recover from a long-term knee injury in time to face Rovers.



In his pre-match interview Dave Penney talked about Walsall's situation and the threats that they possess, saying:

"They [Walsall] have had a change of manager as well, and we had them watched on Tuesday.

"They keep going right to the death, they got a late goal against us and they got a late goal against Oldham on Tuesday, they are really trying hard to get points and help the manager.

"It will be a tough game, as they are battling away for points just like we are.

"We are hoping we can go there with the confidence we have built up, and keep that momentum and confidence going."

Walsall manager Dean Smith is unfazed by his teams struggle and dares any team to write them off, he told BBC West Midlands:

"Most of the teams will have probably written us off already and will see us as being adrift.

"Our job is to start catching them up and for them to start looking over their shoulder.

"We've looked fearless in the games we've played and the commitment and the spirit has been there."