by Robert Jones
Date: Saturday November 2, 2019
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Crown Oil Arena, Rochdale
BRISTOL Rovers travel to face Rochdale AFC with manager Graham Coughlan calling on his side to get their game plan right.
The League One clash sees Rovers go into the game off the back of a mixed bag of results so far with six wins, four draws and five defeats. But, they remain only three points off the play-off positions.
Coughlan knows the threat that Rochdale possess.
“They’re a very dangerous team, they’re a possession orientated team who play from the back and have some good players who play with plenty of freedom.
“We need to get our game plan right and have everybody’s focus and attention right going into the game.”
Rovers have scored 17 goals and conceded 18 through the first quarter of the season, while Rochdale have scored two more than their opponents but conceded seven more.
Both teams were winless last time out as Rovers came from two goals down at home to draw with Portsmouth after Alex Rodman‘s second goal of the season and a 93rd minute own goal from the visitors shared the spoils.
The Dale are currently four places behind Rovers having started their campaign off with five wins, four draws and six defeats. A win on Saturday afternoon would see them join the away side on twenty-two points.
Rovers will once again be without star striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, and could turn to their youth options for the game starting with Deon Moore who scored for the Under 23s against Portsmouth on Tuesday, along with Youth Cup standout Kieran Phillips.
Rochdale have no such worries going into the game as Ian Henderson will be looking to build on his impressive start to the season which has yielded eight goals in 15 games.
The two sides last met in April 2019 at the Memorial Stadium, where Rochdale came away with a 1-0 victory over The Gas thanks to an 83rd minute winner by Ethan Hamilton.