Shaq Forde is ‘confident’ that Bristol Rovers can improve their away form heading into the Gas’ trip to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
The Pirates will be searching for their first victory in Sky Bet League One since beating the Trotters at The Memorial Stadium last month, with Iñigo Calderón’s men losing their previous four in the third tier.
However, Rovers will take some confidence from their spirited performance against league leaders Birmingham City in their previous fixture, hitting the bar and post after Gatlin O’Donkor cancelled Keshi Anderson’s opener. However, Blues took all the points through Jay Stansfield's late penalty.
Forde was encouraged by Rovers’ outing against Birmingham and stated that there is lots of positives they can take.
“We had a good performance,” he said. “We probably had two lapses of concentration where they scored their goals, but that’s the difference at the moment, and we just need to play like we did for most of the game, all of the game, all of the time. Especially in our away games. It was a good performance, but ultimately, it counts for nothing because we still ended up losing, and we didn’t get any points. It was a good performance, but ultimately, in the bigger picture, it doesn’t mean much.
“There’s a lot of positives to take. We showed how well we can play when we’re all on it. We’re going to take those positives into the weekend and try to make it a better game and try and improve our away form. I think we can take the positives from going toe-to-toe with Birmingham.”
Bolton were six unbeaten heading into their clash against the Gas in March but could not continue their good run, with Rovers winning a five-goal thriller thanks to a brace from Chris Martin and a header from Connor Taylor.
It was the Trotters’ first defeat in a run of three on the bounce, but Steven Schumacher’s side will feel better about themselves after a 1-0 victory away at Wigan Athletic in their previous match. Forde knows that Bolton will provide a serious test for his team but admitted they can take things from their win over the Trotters earlier this season.
“I think they are a good team,” said the forward. “You can tell by where they are and the history that they have. They are always a good team, and they are always up there, in and around the playoffs. So, I feel like it will be a tough game, but if we can just play how we did for most of the game on Tuesday, we’ll be fine.
“We can take things from that game because I feel like in the second half, we were a lot more aggressive, and we were getting in their faces and didn’t allow them to play their football. I feel like we can take some positives, and at the end of the day, we won that game. So, there’s always positives to take from that game to take into this game, but I feel like if we play like that in that game and how we did on Tuesday, we’ll be fine.”
Rovers are only three points above the relegation zone heading into the final six matches of the season, with Burton Albion in the position below with a game in hand. Looking to ease any immediate fears of moving into the drop zone, Rovers will be searching for their first victory in eight away fixtures in all competitions.
The Gas’ last triumph on the road came against Cambridge in early January, with Forde emphasising the importance of the upcoming games.
“We’re confident that we can turn it around,” said Forde. “We had a good performance yesterday. So, I feel like we can turn it around. We all know what it means now, obviously, we’ve known for a while. We’re almost running out of games, so we need to start turning these games into points. We are confident that we can turn it around. We’ve all just got to do it on the day.”
Forde has started Rovers’ previous two fixtures after a spell out of the team. In the 11 games after playing the entire game against Charlton, Forde failed to start a game and was out of the squad entirely six times. The attacker is glad to be back and wants to help his side achieve their goals this term.
“It’s been enjoyable being back in the team,” he said. “I had a tough run with poor performances and being suspended, but I feel like it’s been good being back in the team. I just want to help the team stay up this season.”
