Match Preview | Bristol Rovers v Argyle
Argyle travel to the Memorial Stadium this Saturday to play against Bristol Rovers for the 150th time.
We have never played an opponent as may times as we have played the Pirates, and this is the second meeting of the season. Earlier the campaign, the sides met in the Papa Johns Trophy, with the game being a 1-1 draw, and Argyle winning an extra point via a shoot-out. Both sides qualified for the next round this week after each winning their final game of the group stage.
The sides are likely to be rather different this Saturday, but both clubs head into the fixture in good form. Argyle's form, top of the league with nine wins from their last ten, is fairly obvious, but 12th placed Rovers have had an uptick in their own form over the last little while.
After two wins in their opening four Sky Bet League One games, the Gas suffered a bad run, suffering five defeats and three draws from an eight-game sequence, but have won their last three league matches, beating Cambridge United, Milton Keynes Dons and Cheltenham Town, who they beat 4-1, having been 4-0 up at half-time. Throw in two wins in the Trophy and Rovers' winning run is up to five.
Striker Aaron Collins scored twice against Cheltenham, taking his goal tally to eight for the season. Fellow forward Ryan Loft has six goals to his name, in all competitions, with midfielder Anthony Evans on three.
An interested addition to the Rovers squad is Scott Sinclair. The 33-year-old former Swansea and Celtic attacker signed for Rovers on a free transfer this week, returning to the club where he began his career before being signed up by Chelsea as a teenager. While at Stamford Bridge, he had a loan spell at Argyle, in which an 18-game spell yielded four goals, including strikes against Barnet and Crystal Palace which rank among the best ever scored by a Pilgrim.
Schumacher Says
“They’ve got firepower, some really good attacking players. They were 4-0 up at half-time last week. They’ve got experienced midfield players who have been around the block a little bit in [Paul] Coutts, [Jordan] Rossiter, Sam Finley: good players.
“And defensively they have looked quite solid of late, not conceding too many goals. They are well balanced, I would say. We know how tough the game will be, but if we play the way we can play we will cause them a few problems as well. We’re top of the league, so we should go into it with confidence.”
Team News
Dan Scarr serves the second game of a suspension following his sending off against Accrington Stanley. Injury is likely to rule out Danny Mayor, Macaulay Gillesphey, Mickel Miller and James Bolton.
Tickets
We remind all supporters that the away end at Bristol Rovers for our game on Saturday is sold out, and the match is an all-ticket event for Argyle fans.
Please do not travel to the Memorial Stadium if you have not already purchased a ticket.
Tickets are available for collection from the Home Park Ticket Office until 3pm on Friday, 21 October.
Any tickets not collected from Home Park will be available on the day of the game from the away ticket booth next to the away turnstile. ID may be required.
If you were expecting to receive your ticket in the post and it has not arrived please contact the Home Park Ticket Office either by phone on 01752 907700 or via email on tickets@pafc.co.uk for duplicates to be arranged for collection by 3pm on Friday, 21 October.
Argyle TV
The game will be covered on Argyle TV, with commentary from Charlie Price and Brian McGlinchey. Both will be on hand for a pre-match show which will be available for free on YouTube from 2pm.
Audio commentary of the game is available for £2.50 in the UK, and live video streaming is available for overseas supporters.
