Leyton Orient v Bristol Rovers
Sky Bet League One, Gaughan Group Stadium, Tuesday 3 December, 7:45pm
Bristol Rovers will look to continue their good away form when they travel to Leyton Orient on Tuesday night.
The Gas will be full of confidence after beating Barnsley on penalties at Oakwell in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday. Josh Griffiths made several saves to keep his seventh clean sheet of the season and sent the contest to spot-kicks after a 0-0 draw extra time before coming up with the decisive moment.
He pushed away Josh Earl’s penalty when the Barnsley man had to score to keep the Tykes in the tie, with Rovers converting all four of their spot-kicks after Adam Phillips hit the post with the opening effort for the hosts.
The FA Cup triumph came after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Blackpool at The Memorial Stadium two days prior, a result that came as a surprise after Matt Taylor’s men beat Mansfield Town 1-0 at the One Call Stadium.
Leyton Orient had an even more dramatic FA Cup outing on Saturday. Josh Leyton came up with goalkeeping heroics of a different variety, arriving for a late free-kick to flick a header into the net to cancel out Manny Monthe's opener for Oldham Athletic.
The O’s won it in the final moments of extra time through Dan Agyei to book their place in the third round.
Tickets...
Tickets can be purchased at the gate by card or cash at Gaughan Group Stadium.
Travel...
By car, take the M4 motorway eastbound. Merge onto the M25 towards Dartford, then take the A12 exit toward Central London. Follow signs for Hackney and turn onto A104. Keep left to stay on the A104, then merge onto A503. Continue onto A117, then turn left onto Brisbane Road. The stadium will be on your left.
However, please note that there is no public parking available.
Opposition...
This is Leyton Orient’s second successive season in the third tier after gaining promotion from Sky Bet League Two as winners in the 2022-23 campaign. The O’s had a solid season last term and finished in 11th position.
However, they have had a difficult start to the new campaign and are just inside the relegation zone after collecting 15 points from their first 16 games. They lost their first four games but have collected some impressive results to show they can be a serious team to come up against for any side.
Richie Wellens’ men have victories over Stockport County, Reading, Rotherham United and Blackpool and draws versus Peterborough United, Wrexham and Stevenage.
There will be two Rovers players returning to Orient for the first time since departing the club in the summer. Ruel Sotiriou scored 12 goals for the O’s last term and moved to the Gas for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.
Shaq Forde also had a spell at Orient on loan from Watford, netting nine times, but moved permanently to the Pirates on deadline day.
Previous Meetings...
Rovers are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Orient and collected four points against them last term. The two teams drew 1-1 at The Memorial Stadium before collecting three points on their travels, with Chris Martin netting the only goal. Both Forde and Sotiriou started for the hosts that day.
Orient last beat Rovers in 2021, winning 3-1 triumph at The Memorial Stadium, with their previous home win against the Gas coming in 2015.
Officials:
Referee: James Linington
Assistant Referees: Alex James and Rob Smith
Fourth Official: Ben Atkinson
