Bolton Wanderers v Bristol Rovers
Sky Bet League One, Toughsheet Community Stadium, Saturday 5 April, 3:00pm KO
Bristol Rovers will look to end their four-game losing streak in Sky Bet League One when they travel to Bolton Wanderers.
The Gas were looking to bounce back from two consecutive away defeats to Lincoln City and Crawley Town with two fixtures at The Memorial Stadium but fell to two agonising 2-1 defeats.
The Pirates were made to pay for two errors leading to goals against Mansfield Town before losing to league leaders Birmingham City on Tuesday night. Gatlin O’Donkor cancelled out Keshi Anderson’s opener and had chances to beat Blues before Jay Stansfield netted the winner from the penalty spot. Iñigo Calderón’s men are now three points above the relegation zone, with Burton Albion looking to close the gap on the Gas.
The Trotters beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 in their previous outing, with Chris Forino scoring a stoppage-time winner.
Tickets...
Tickets are available in-store only until midday on Thursday, with no tickets available on the day of the fixture.
Travel...
By car, begin by taking the M32 out of Bristol. Merge onto the M4 towards London. After about 20 miles, switch to the M6 motorway heading north towards Birmingham. Continue on the M6, following signs for Manchester, and take exit 29 for the M61 toward Bolton. Once on the M61, proceed to exit 5, following signs for the A6 towards Bolton. Finally, merge onto the A670 and then the A579, which will lead you to the stadium on De Havilland Way.
By train, Horwich Parkway Station is only 0.3 miles away from the stadium, taking approximately eight minutes to walk.
Opposition...
Bolton’s victory against Wigan in their last match was massive. The Trotters were surging towards the playoffs after a six-game unbeaten run in the third tier under new manager Steven Schumacher, collecting an impressive 3-1 victory over Birmingham in that time before losing three matches on the bounce.
The Trotters’ first away win over the Latics in over a decade pushed them back in the top six, leapfrogging Reading. Bolton have collected 63 points from 39 matches and will be hopeful of challenging for a place in the Championship next season.
Bolton have been League One’s nearly club in the past two seasons, faltering in the semi-finals of the playoffs in the 2022-23 campaign before losing in the final at Wembley Stadium to Oxford United last term. With three of their next four fixtures at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, the Trotters will be looking to build some momentum heading into the end of the season.
Previous Meetings...
It has been less than a month since Rovers beat Bolton 3-2 in a five-goal thriller at The Memorial Stadium. Chris Martin twice put the Gas ahead, once from the penalty spot, before slotting a low effort into the net.
However, both his strikes were cancelled out by the Trotters, with Aaron Morley and John McAtee scoring.
It set up a tense ending, and the Gas prevailed, with Connor Taylor heading a late winner into the net to send The Mem into raptures.
Rovers have won two of their previous three fixtures against the Trotters and beat their upcoming opponents away from home last season. John Marquis and Antony Evans gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first half before Eoin Toal got a late consolation for the hosts.
