Josh Griffiths stated that Bristol Rovers must be at their best to collect a positive result when they travel to Mansfield Town in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas are on the road for the first time since their 1-0 loss to Reading last month and have played four games at The Memorial Stadium since then, drawing 0-0 with Crawley Town in their previous outing.
The Stags have been strong since their promotion from League Two and are sitting just one point outside the playoff places, with the additional bonus that they have played two fewer games than Lincoln City in the position above.
Rovers’ last meeting with Mansfield was in 2022, with Griffiths expecting a difficult fixture against Nigel Clough’s men.
“I think it will be a tough game,” said the goalkeeper. “They’re obviously coming off the back of a promotion and have had a good start to the season. It’s quite a tight pitch and stadium to go, and I’ve played there once before.
“We’re all expecting a really tough game, and we know we’re going to have to be at our best to get something out of it.”
Rovers have an indifferent record away from home in the third tier this campaign. They have only picked up four points from seven games on their travels, with the single victory coming against Burton Albion.
However, the loss to Reading just under one month ago had plenty of positives. The Gas were unlucky not to have taken anything from the game after several late opportunities.
Griffiths insisted that their last away performance against the Royals is still in their minds and that they must not drop below that level of performance.
“It’s quite vivid in our memories,” he said. Especially in the second half, I thought we dominated the ball in the last 30 minutes, even when we were down to ten men.
“We said after the Reading gamer that we need to take this performance, build on it and not drop below those standards. A second half like that, adding a goal would be brilliant.”
Griffiths was one of 16 summer signings for the Pirates, moving on loan from Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion. The move to Rovers was his third temporary spell away from the Baggies, making 70 appearances in League One.
The shot-stopper has already impressed under Matt Taylor and kept his fifth clean sheet of the campaign against Crawley but had mixed feelings after the Gas missed chances to claim another victory at home.
“It was nice to keep a clean sheet,” he said. “The whole feel from the game was probably a bit of frustration, and we probably should have been out of sight by half-time, but those things can happen.
“I thought their goalkeeper made three of four really good saves, so sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up, and if that was me, I would be buzzing with it. It can be frustrating. But if we go and pick up a couple of results in the next week, it turns out to be a good point. You can look at it both ways.”
