Inigo Calderon has noted that the booming atmosphere expected at Wrexham on Good Friday can work “either way” for his Bristol Rovers side as they look to spoil the party to boost their survival hopes.
Friday’s match has significant stakes riding on it at both ends of the League One table. Wrexham still occupy the final automatic promotion spot after Birmingham City were confirmed champions last weekend. However, third place Wycombe Wanderers are only one point behind with four games remaining.
Meanwhile, the Pirates dropped into the relegation zone for the first time this season after a 2-1 defeat to Exeter City last Saturday, their sixth consecutive loss.
With their standing in the league table, Wrexham’s excellent home form and their terrible away record, the odds of Rovers coming away with a result are well against them going into the match. However, Calderon believes that the home crowd could help his team.
“Well, I think it can be either way,” the Gas head coach told Bristol Live when asked how significant a role managing the atmosphere will play in his preparations. “I think if we have a good game, that crowd I think can help us because probably they will feel the pressure of losing against a team that was dead before, but at the same time, [if] we don’t have a good day, [it] could be a long day.
“Obviously if they are better than us and they are winning or they’re just being better than us, [it] could be a long day. But as I say, [it] could be either way and the thing is we cannot control that. But it’s true that [if] we have a good day, and I think why not, it can even help us.”
Eyes across the globe will be fixated to the events at the Racecourse Ground on Friday with Wrexham now a global sporting brand as a result of their well-documented Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The North Wales outfit are gunning for an incredible third consecutive promotion into the Championship and will have a packed home crowd roaring them on to, at the very least, maintain their current advantage over Wycombe.
“Well I mean, just watching them to try to analyse the squad and the numbers of the strikers they have and the number of the strikers I have, I think that’s a big difference,” Calderon added on his team’s latest opponents. “But we have more things to worry about; we have a lot of things.
“I played there in the FA Cup a long time ago when they were low. To be fair, I have to say, I like the atmosphere there and the crowd and [how] proud they feel with this football club. I think it’s great.
“It’s true that there’s been a lot of noise around, but I don’t know too much about that. I didn’t watch the movies or the documentary. I don’t have time for that. But it’s true that I have a lot of respect for what they’re doing. That is not easy. But as I say, we have a lot of things to worry about.”
Although the Spaniard has frequently reinforced that he does not want to make excuses, Rovers have been dealt incidents of misfortune at times during their six-game losing streak.
The major example of that was how an excellent performance against now-champions Birmingham in front of the Sky Sports cameras didn’t reap the deserved rewards as the Gas went on to lose 2-1 despite having the best of the chances.
Even away at Bolton Wanderers, although they lost 1-0, the Pirates limited their hosts to few opportunities, as was the case on Saturday against Exeter.
On paper, a trip to second-place Wrexham looks daunting for any side, let alone one that has lost their last six games and sit in the bottom four. Bizarrely though, Rovers have saved some of their best performances since the turn of the year for teams placed higher in the division.
“At this point, I don’t know what is best,” Calderon smiled. “I mean, maybe you play against someone that doesn’t have to play anything, you think it’s going to be easier and it’s not. Even, for example, the game against Bolton, they were fighting for good things up top and I think we, especially the first half, I think we were good, still with things to improve.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter because you could think that Exeter don’t have too much to play [for] and they scored first.
“I’m not too worried, well I’m worried about the position, but I’m not worried about my team and that I think we have to try to be focused on.”
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