Matt Taylor believes that his Bristol Rovers side must nullify Stockport County’s attacking threat heading into their Sky Bet League One clash on Saturday.
The Gas started strongly in the third tier and collected back-to-back clean sheets to start the campaign, beating Northampton Town 1-0 on the opening day before a 0-0 draw on the road to Rotherham United.
Stockport were only promoted from League Two last term but sit in first position after two matches, beating Cambridge United and Blackpool.
Taylor previewed the trip to Rotherham, his final reflections on the match against Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s, and spoke on injury news.
STOCKPORT COUNTY TEST
“Stockport are well managed, have a good squad and strong personnel on the pitch,” said Taylor. “They’ve started the season fantastically well. Probably the result of the weekend last weekend to go to Blackpool and win that game 3-0.
“There’s a lot to like about them. I think we knew the clubs coming up from League Two were generally going to be stronger than previous seasons. That’s already been shown in terms of league results, and Stockport are certainly one of those.
“But this weekend, we’re going to have to find a way to nullify their attacking threat, which is obviously been on show in the first couple of games and find a way to create more chances ourselves.”
FINAL REFLECTIONS ON THE SPURS U21S MATCH
"Scoring three goals, it should’ve been more,” said the manager. “Some of their goals were poor moments from a defensive capacity. So, the mindset of the team I thought improved from half-time onwards in terms of that game.
“They're always strange games. So difficult for a manager and personnel on the pitch to make them real and viable for what’s next. That’s why I was disappointed from fifteen minutes onwards to the half-time interval where we just lost our way a little bit and stopped moving fastest first.
“The second half was what I wanted the game to look like. More open, more exciting, but we’re in the entertainment business as well so those fans who came in good numbers for that competition hopefully went home with a little bit of something having seen six goals and a penalty shootout.”
INJURY NEWS
“A bit of tightness in one or two, one got a late knock on Tuesday,” he said. “So, he didn’t take part in full training today. We’ll assess them tomorrow, but we’re not in a bad place.
“Physically we’ve been in worse places than this in the past. You just don’t want these numbers or little problems to build up and become anything serious.
“It’s always on your mind as a manager. But I think we feel this group are capable of doing more training and being pushed a little bit more physically.
"So, you try and get the balance. We have to remember we’re still in the middle of two, three-game weeks. So, we’ve had a lot of games in quick succession. Only after this weekend does it die down a little bit in theory.”
TRANSFER UPDATES
“Nothing directly on the table,” said the boss. “Conversations, I suppose. George [Friend] is taking care of that more so than myself. We’ve probably learnt a little bit more from the last two Tuesdays in terms of cup games and where the squad is.
“But in terms of the rest of the group, I don’t want any distractions. So, we’re in a comfortable place. We did so much work early in the window or as early as we possible could that we’re only needing ones or twos. Both in and out.
“We’ll keep on monitoring what the options are and the opportunities. There’s always more in the last week of the window, or these ones who you don’t think will be available, they come available, or plans change.
“We’re in a position to be reactive. We’re in a comfortable position, there’s no panic about it. But we are still in the market.”
