Crewe travel to Bristol for their first away game of the campaign and they will be looking to pick up maximum points and remain top of the League One table. They face promoted Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Ground.
Rovers, who dumped out Championship side Crystal Palace in midweek, will be looking to get off to a good start at home. Their first game in League one was against our local rivals Port Vale and they secured a 1-1 draw in Staffordshire courtesy of Andrew Williams 77th minute equaliser at Vale Park.
Vital Quotes:
Dario Gradi describes Bristol Rovers as being on the crest of a wave, “he told the official site “Bristol Rovers are a good side and they are very organised under Paul and Lennie. They play a bit differently to us, but they have two good strikers, work hard for each other and are good at their set-plays”
He then went on to say the Bristol Rovers will be a different test to Brighton but will cause us problems. He said “”It will be a different game to the Brighton one, but one which will be equally as hard. I don’t think there will be too much between the teams in this division this season. The dividing line between winning and losing is getting very thin as the standards of the leagues improve.”
Bristol Rovers Team News:
After beating Crystal Palace on penalties on Tuesday night Rovers have injury concerns over Aaron Lescott (Ribs) and Steve Elliot (Groin).
Player to watch: David Pipe
A summer signing from Notts County for 50k. The Welsh midfielder has played in both games so far this season and will be looking to further enhance his reputation in the game.
He started 138 games for his previous club Notts County and scored four goals. Pipe was a product of the Coventry youth set up but he only managed to make 11 appearances for the Championship club.
Crewe Team News:
Chris Dickson has joined on a month`s loan from Charlton and is expected to go straight in to the starting line up. Captain Neil Cox is likely to return in place of Ben Rix. David Vaughan won’t play as he is in Spain discussing a 300k move to Real Sociedad.
Nicky Maynard (Broken Leg), Byron Moore (Knee) and Michael O`Connor (Hernia are all ruled out. Ryan Lowe is rated as 50/50 and will undergo a late fitness test ahead of the trip west.
Likley Team: Williams, Jones, Woodards, Baudet, McCready, Schumacher Cox, Roberts, Lowe, Dickson, Miller
Player to watch: Chris Dickson
Chris will be looking to impress after signing on loan earlier in the week. With Charlton`s wealth of strikers, Addicks boss Alan Pardew decided to send him out on loan. Crewe beat off stiff competition from Millwall and Gillingham for his signature.
The lad is a born goal-scorer and has been described as the next Ian Wright. With the long term injury to Nicky Maynard he will be handed the chance to showcase his talents in the Crewe team.
Match Facts & Stats
Bristol Rovers 5/4
Draw 9/4
Crewe 9/5
Ref Watch:
The man in the middle is Graham Salisbury from Lancashire. He has been a referee since the start of the 2001/02 season. He was in charge of our 3-0 defeat at the Alexandra Stadium against Bradford last August.
He dished out 78 yellows and 7 red cards last season. He will be assisted by BJ Malone and MF Thompson. The fourth official for the match will be A Matthews.
Match Prediction:
Bristol Rovers 1-2 Crewe
Next Fixtures:
Sat 25th Aug – Leyton Orient – H
Sat 1st Sep – Swindon Town – A