Opposition Preview - Bristol Rovers

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 8th August 2023 9:00

Ipswich will begin their Carabao Cup campaign at home against Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers on Wednesday 9th August.

Rovers are co-incidentally the last team that Ipswich beat in this competition when two goals from Freddie Sears and one from skipper Luke Chambers saw Paul Lambert's side to a 3-0 victory in September 2020.

You have to go back a year further to 2019 to find the last time Rovers won a game in the competition, beating Cheltenham 3-0 on Tuesday 13th August. Rovers survived the drop last season but were winless in their last seven games and will be hoping to get off to a good start to this season. They’ve had an intense pre-season with eight matches including a double header against Cardiff and a notable 2-0 victory coming against Championship side Swansea.

Barton favoured a compact 4-3-3 last season but adapted the style against different teams. Their average possession stats across the season were 54% compared to the 35% that they had in the 0-0 against Town.

In pre-season, however, it looks like Barton has switched to a more expressive 4-2-3-1 to take advantage of his wealth of attacking options and is trying to play a more possession-based style of football playing out from the back.

Given the success the Gas had against Town playing defensively last season, it’s up in the air whether he tinkers and goes back to that 4-3-3 for this one or whether he sticks to his more possession-based 4-2-3-1.

Barton himself won’t be at the match because he’ll be serving the second of a three-match suspension picked up at the end of last season.

The Gas kicked -ff the season with a solid performance against Portsmouth, the game ending 1-1, and will feel unlucky to have not won having conceded the equaliser in the 92nd minute. So let’s have a look through the Rovers squad.

<h1>Goalkeeper </h1>

Thirty-two-year-old James Belshaw was Rovers' main keeper last season, starting 38 games and keeping eight clean sheets in the process.

He wasn't involved in the 0-0 draw with Ipswich with Ellery Balcombe starting that one. He did, however,have a good game in the 2-0 defeat at Portman Road where without his five saves the scoreline could have been a lot more one-sided.

The Gas have brought in two goalkeepers who could potentially compete with Belshaw this season and sent 20-year-old Jed Ward out on loan to Wealdstone.

Matt Hall is the first, having permanently signed from Southampton. With his footballing experience mainly being non-league (Totton, Harrow Borough and Melksham), it’s likely that Hall will be third choice.

The second keeper is a loan signing from Brentford in Matthew Cox. Cox also has no EFL league appearances to his name but did feature for the England U20s in the World Cup making three appearances and has also made the bench as David Raya’s understudy in the Premier League a few times.

Cox was chosen to start the first league game after impressing in pre-season with his ability to play out from the back. This fits with the new style of play that Barton is trying to develop, and could see him continue the season as the number one keeper.

<h1>Centre Backs </h1>

Two of Rovers' defence last season were young Premier League/Championship loans who have now gone back to their parent clubs. Lewis Gibson and Bobby Thomas made a combined 59 starts.

So far, Rovers have taken a different approach to fill that gap. Ipswich Town Player of the Season in 2020/21, James Wilson, has joined on a free transfer following the expiry of his Plymouth contract. The 34-year-old was an influential figure in Plymouth's promotion last season, starting 37 games and involved in 14 clean sheets and should prove to be a very astute signing by Rovers, bringing experience and composure to a young backline.

At the end of last season James Connolly was the only other senior centre back in the squad. The 21-year-old had his breakthrough season in League Two and kept his place following promotion to League One. Connolly is a fairly solid and consistent player and will hope to learn from the experienced Wilson and develop his game even further. He started alongside Wilson in the first game of the season as the pair started to build what could be the first-choice partnership.

However, Rovers have also added more strength in depth, going back to Brentford for a second loan signing in young Frenchman Tristan Crama. He’s another one that’s a bit of an unknown but has also been on the bench a few times for the Bees. Crama has also played a lot of football with keeper Cox for the Brentford B side. Pre-season saw him play as a very expressive centre back, sometimes even ending up on the right wing as he stepped out from the backline.

The final addition that Rovers made before the start of the season was the re-signing of Connor Taylor from Stoke who had a good loan spell with the Gas in 2021/22, starting 42 games in their promotion season.

That means that it shouldn’t take him too much time to fit into the squad as he’s played with a lot of them already. Taylor didn’t do badly at Stoke but was never able to properly break into the first team with only 11 starts spread across last season, usually as an injury back-up.

He’ll be looking to push on and get more football under his belt this season and came off the bench to get some minutes in his legs against Portsmouth.

<h1>Full-Backs </h1>

The Gas’s youthful defence is likely to continue with their two young full-backs. Numbers-wise Barton's full-backs are defensively-focused (two goals between them last season) and stay wide on the pitch getting up and down the wing.

Twenty-one-year-old right-back Luca Hoole, much like Connolly, has also made the step-up from his first season in League Two with solid performances in League One. That form has seen him make his Wales U21 debut this summer.

Twenty-two-year-old left-back Lewis Gordon was signed from Brentford in the August of 2022 and completed his first full season of football last term. Both players will likely be the first-choice starters for Barton's team and look to build on last season's performances.

They well be supplemented by another experienced addition in George Friend. Picked up on a free transfer after leaving Birmingham, the 35-year-old will provide a wise head for the youngsters to develop alongside. Friend comes with 357 Championship appearances and also has the ability to slot in at centre-back if needed.

Also in the squad is right-back James Gibbons. The 25-year-old signed from Port Vale in July 2022 and rotated with Hoole for game time in the right-back position last season. He has played a lot of pre-season at left-back covering for Gordon who had been injured but has now returned to full fitness.

<h1>Midfield </h1>

Compared to the youth of the Bristol Rovers backline, the centre of the park is full of experience. Sam Finley has racked up 135 League One appearances in his career and joined the Gas from Fleetwood in 2021.

Former Liverpool youngster Jordan Rossiter followed him from the Cod Army a year later and played a lot as the deepest most combative of the midfield three. However, his season was ended early last year and he hasn’t played any pre-season, so it’s unlikely he’ll be in the squad for this one.

Another option in the middle is a player Town fans will know well. Grant Ward joined the Blues as a flying right winger but also had the capability to play in a midfield three. This is where he has mainly been deployed by Barton, taking on a bit of a free role to pop up anywhere in the central areas. Ward has become an important figure in the Gas midfield.

Bristol Rovers' most influential central midfielder, however, is likely to be Antony Evans. The 24-year-old one-time Everton trainee joined from SC Paderborn in August 2021 and has excelled upon his return to England. He’s the man who can unpick the lock with 63 key passes last term, 23 more than any of his teammates. With Barton opting to go for his array of attacking talents, Evans missed out against Portsmouth so could be looking to prove his case for inclusion in this one.

Another one who will be looking to use this opportunity to press his case is Luke McCormick. The 24-year-old only made nine league starts last season but featured heavily in the cups. He will also have enhanced his case by scoring the second goal in Rovers 9-0 rout of Melksham in their first pre-season friendly.

The next of the midfielders who will be hoping for game time in this one is Joshua Grant. A consistent player in the League Two promotion season, Grant only made one appearance last year but was on the bench in the first game of this season. He can play centre-back or right-back but if he does start it’s most likely to be in a defensive midfield role.

One of Rovers biggest prospects is Jerry Lawrence, the 18-year-old central midfielder made one league appearance and two in the Papa Johns Trophy matches last season getting an assist against Plymouth. Depending on how seriously Barton is going to treat this competition he could see it as a good opportunity to get the youngster some more game time as he is highly rated by Rovers fans.

<h1>Wingers </h1>

The biggest area that the Gas have strengthened is up the top of the pitch. With the experienced Scott Sinclair already signed on, they have added Jevani Brown, who comes in off of an excellent 12-goal season with Exeter playing largely as an inverted winger on the right, and Luke Thomas.

The signing of Brown caused a lot of controversy and in-fighting with the Gas fan base as he came having been convicted and fined for assaulting a woman.

Former Town loanee Thomas has refound his love of the game following struggles with his mental health during his Town loan period and played a part in Barnsley's form that saw them fall just short in the play-offs last season, providing five assists for the Tykes.

Perhaps the biggest signing of the summer, though, would be if they manage to keep hold of Aaron Collins. The versatile 26-year-old Welshman recorded a double double of 16 goals and 11 assists last season, playing either as a centre forward or out on the left. He’s not left yet so will at very least be in the squad against the Blues who managed to keep him quiet in both games last season.

<h1>Central Striker </h1>

Up front will be one of the experienced John Marquis (269 appearances and 85 goals in his League One career) or 6ft 2in target man Ryan Loft.

Numbers-wise Marquis is the more prolific striker and netted three times in pre-season but against a possession-based Town side Barton might look to use the hold-up play of Loft to bring his wide players into play and plump for the more physical number nine. Collins has also played up the top as more of a false nine in pre-season but given his importance to the side he could be rested for this one.

Predicting teams for a cup game is not quite as straight forward as the league given the rotation that occurs. Given Town’s exertions against Sunderland with a few players suffering with cramp it’s likely that Kieran McKenna will rotate his pack heavily for this one.

For Town, I'm going for Vaclav Hladky in goal. With Walton out injured I think the more games Hladky gets in a row the better. Dom Ball had an excellent pre-season at right-back and I can see him deputising for Janoi Donacien here. Harry Clarke is back in training but he’s more likely to get minutes off the bench.

I can see George Edmundson still being trusted if McKenna looks to rotate fully with Elkan Baggott being given a chance alongside him and Greg Leigh given game time having scored the equaliser against Werder Bremen.

A midfield of Lee Evans and Jack Taylor didn’t really take off during pre-season but was trialled a lot so I can see it being given another go in this one.

Cam Humphreys will be looking for game time off the bench having recovered from concussion. I’ve gone for Kayden Jackson, Marcus Harness and Omari Hutchinson in a pacy front three and Freddie Ladapo starting in front of George Hirst.

For Bristol Rovers, I'm going for another heavily-rotated side. Cox started the first game of the season against Portsmouth but I can see shot-stopper and last year's number one James Belshaw coming back in here.

Gibbons played a lot of pre-season and will be the most likely back-up to Luca Hoole. I’ve gone for a centre-halves of Crama and the returning Taylor with experienced campaigner Friend getting minutes at left-back.

I'm predicting a more compact midfield three than the 4-2-3-1 that Barton started against Portsmouth because of the rotation and the more defensive approach I expect them to take against Town.

Finley had an excellent first game of the season against Portsmouth and is Mr Reliable in the middle so I’ve picked him to start alongside McCormick who really needs to prove himself and Antony Evans.

Sinclair had an excellent pre-season and was perhaps unlucky to miss out on Saturday so I can see him coming in for this one on the left-hand side with goalscorer against Portsmouth, Thomas, starting on the right and, for what I'm predicting will be a more direct style from Rovers, I’ve gone for target man Loft up front.

Against Portsmouth the Gas were very compact and played a deep line, almost playing a 4-2-2-2 at times. Against Town I also expect them to stay compact, flood the middle of the park and look to counter. With the inverted wingers playing narrow they could have five in there at times so whoever plays as Town’s 10s will have to drop in there to support the midfield two.

What it will do is leave width down the side and with Friend potentially playing at left-back I expect Jackson to have a real impact in this one getting to the byline and cutting those dangerous balls back from the right-hand side.

Barton is building a style of play that should see Rovers comfortably in the top half of League One this season. But with the likely rotation of both sides I can see Town winning this one comfortably. I’m going for a 3-0 victory.

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