Bristol Rovers face “important” test against Barnsley

Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones preview Bristol Rovers vs. Barnsley.

Transcript

00:00Dan, looking at Bristol Rovers and their next game in League One, at home against Barnsley,

00:07fifth place Barnsley, who are certainly on the cusp of looking back to get back to the

00:12Championship. I mean, if you look at head-to-head, they've met a few times, Bristol Rovers have

00:19won once, Barnsley four times and three draws. I mean, it's not great news if you're a Bristol

00:27Rovers fan, but they are going to try and bring this new lease of life with Inigo Calderon

00:33and carry on from that last league win as well. You can't forget, despite the FA Cup

00:38loss, that this was a fantastic milestone for him to get his first win as the Rovers

00:43boss and keep them just above the relegation zone. But if they are to lose in the likes

00:48of Crawley win, then they go just two points below them in the table and that's the relegation

00:56zone. So, how do you look going into this one? I mean, Barnsley are going to certainly

01:00want those points because of how tight the play-off race is and, I mean, the points can't

01:05be more crucial from now to the end of the season for Bristol Rovers to remain a League

01:09One club.

01:10Yeah, you could argue it's really important for both teams this game. Bristol Rovers,

01:15obviously, fighting off relegation, just claimed their first win under Inigo Calderon and,

01:19of course, dumped out the FA Cup by a half-switch. But then for Barnsley, they're right in amongst

01:23it, looking to get in the play-offs, looking to be coming back to the championship in one

01:27form or another. So, it's not going to be easy for Bristol Rovers at all. Yes, they're

01:32at home, but Barnsley clearly have shown this season that they're capable of picking up

01:36results both at home and away. So, I think Bristol Rovers will have to be on their A-game,

01:41absolutely. They'll have to show a much better display than the one they put out against

01:45Ipswich in the FA Cup. And perhaps they were maybe thinking of that in that game against

01:50Ipswich, the fact that, well, you know, we're not really going to win this game, especially

01:54when it got to 3-0 at half-time. They probably thought, well, OK, let's just conserve ourselves

01:59for this Barnsley game. Obviously, fans would have wanted something different in the stands

02:03when they've travelled all the way to a Premier League side, but the players and the management

02:07probably thought, well, the game's gone now. And I know that sounds wrong to say that,

02:12but let's be honest, they can't be afforded to be going back down to League Two at all.

02:17It would do the club absolutely no good under this new ownership structure. So, things need

02:21to improve on the field for them. Yes, Inigo Calderon got his first win, but that's good.

02:27But it can't be the end of it. You know, you've got that, you're having to build on that.

02:30So, lots of work still to be done, and this is a very tough test they've got coming. So,

02:36it's a game where they're going to have to, you know, play to their absolute strength

02:39and make the Memorial Ground a really tough place to come for a side who are clearly doing

02:45very well this season. It won't be easy at all. I think in terms of set-up, they'll have

02:50to just be quite resolute in defence and make sure they just take the opportunities when

02:54they come, if they come, and make sure they test the keeper. That's the most important thing.