Ben Thompson’s 92nd-minute goal on Saturday condemned Bristol Rovers to their sixth consecutive league defeat, leaving the Gas still without a win in the fourth tier since late September.
It looked like Rovers were going to end their winless run at half-time against Bromley, with Jack Sparkes and Fabrizio Cavegn giving Steve Evans’ side a two-goal lead after a dominant first 45.
Shaq Forde’s second yellow eight minutes after the interval led to an onslaught from Andy Woodman’s side, though, with the high-flying Ravens overturning the deficit to keep the Gas firmly in relegation trouble.
Next up for Evans is a home game against Barnet on Monday – an opponent that demolished Rovers 4-0 earlier this month. Adam Senior, Nnamdi Ofoborh, Mark Shelton, and Callum Stead scored the goals for Dean Brennan’s side, and it could have been more as Luke Southwood pulled off some impressive saves for the visitors.
The Gas have improved since then, especially under Evans, and they’ll be keen to get revenge for that dismal performance at Barnet.
With three strikers likely to be sidelined, though, the 63-year-old will have an extremely tough team selection, with points much needed in the club’s fight for survival.
With that said, here is how we think Rovers will set up against the Bees…
Goalkeeper and defence
As already mentioned, Southwood impressed in the first head-to-head between the two sides this season, despite conceding four goals. That probably tells you more about the level of the performance, but the Northern Ireland international is one of the first names on the team sheet currently. He will start against Barnet.
Meanwhile, Taylor Moore has played out of position in the first two games under Evans, starting at right-back against Crewe and Bromley. Given that Tom Lockyer only came on for 15 minutes and Alfie Kilgour might be out for this one, it seems likely that Moore will be given the shirt on the right side of Rovers’ defence again.
Kilgour was forced off in the 75th minute against Bromley, and after the defeat, Evans was asked about the severity of any potential injury. He said: “We’ll know better tomorrow, obviously.
“You don’t want to lose any of your senior players, Alfie goes off and you know, I’ve not looked at the goals but I look at them as two goals that we’ve conceded in the middle of our goal.”
“I need to look at whether that’s personnel or whether it’s just good play by Bromley.”
It seems touch and go whether the 27-year-old will be fit for this one, but a potential solution would be to play Lockyer alongside Mola, if the former Premier League defender is back to full fitness. We think he’ll start with Lockyer instead of Kilgour, given there are two games against Shrewsbury Town and Barrow to come in quick succession in the New Year and keeping the captain fit will be crucial to Rovers’ chances in both.
Finally, Jack Sparkes will start as the left-back. He was brilliant against Bromley, especially in the first-half, and is a crucial player in Rovers’ attacking play on the flanks, given the injuries to Macauley Southam-Hales and Joel Senior on the other side.
Midfield
The midfield three of Josh McEachran, Kamil Conteh and Joel Cotterill worked extremely well in the first-half, with the trio complementing each other with control and energy to dominate the visitors. After the game, McEachran was asked about this trio when speaking to Bristol Live. He said: “There’s a few of us, to be fair, that work really well. When Alfie Chang’s been in there as well, we felt there’s a very good balance. We’re all very different players, but we always bring something different.
“But yeah, I thought the midfield three worked really well today with me and Kam [Conteh] kind of deeper and Joel [Cotterill] further forward, but if he brings Changy in on Monday, everyone’s more than capable of playing. So, no, it was good. I thought it was a really good balance.”
With continuity severely needed as Rovers look to string a run of results together, we think Evans will stick with this midfield three against Barnet.
Attack and striker
Evans opted for a front three of Forde, Cavegn and Luke Thomas in the first-half, and given how dominant Rovers were, it seems likely that a straight swap between the now-suspended Forde and Bryant Bilongo is the most logical solution to maintain some continuity in terms of the formation. If Evans opts for Bilongo, we’ll think he’ll start on the left, with Thomas occupying the other flank, while Cavegn maintains his place as the central striker.
An alternative solution is to start Ollie Dewsbury alongside Cavegn in a 4-3-1-2 – the shape Evans used at Crewe – but we think he’ll go for Bilongo, who came on for Cotterill just after the hour mark in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat.
Promise Omochere, Ellis Harrison, and Callum Morton all look set to miss this one, with Evans stating after the game, “I’m not sure any will be ready for Barnet. Maybe as we go forward to Shrewsbury and Barrow. Maybe one or two could be ready to, but we’ll have to wait and see. We’re at the beck and call of the management team, but certainly by the fourth, we’ll have hopefully added to the group anyway.
“You can’t play any player on the first, any new player. They’re not eligible. So myself and Ricky will be working hard, even yesterday we were on the phone for long spells and we’re back in tomorrow and post the boys meetings and various stuff and training cooldowns, we’ll sit and we’ll go to work again.”
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