MATCH PREVIEW: Swindon Town V Bristol Rovers

All you need to know ahead of tomorrow

21 January 2022

Swindon Town will be looking to take the Derby Day spoils when they host Bristol Rovers at The County Ground on Saturday.

Ben Garner's team lock horns with their local rivals in the EFL Sky Bet League Two tomorrow - with the game kicking-off at the earlier time of 1pm.

Local bragging rights and a huge three points is at stake for both teams, so allow us to get you set for what will be a mouthwatering contest...

LAST TIME WE MET

Goals from Jack Payne, Ben Gladwin and Harry McKirdy in a superb second-half gave Town all three points when these two sides last met at The Memorial Stadium in October 2021.

LAST FIVE

Season / Date	Competition	Result	Town Scorers
2021-22 - 2 Oct (A)	Sky Bet League Two	1-3	Payne, Gladwin, McKirdy
2020-21 - 23 Mar (A)	Sky Bet League One	0-1	Payne
2020-21 - 21 Nov (H)	Sky Bet League One	1-0	Pitman
2019-20 - 13 Nov (A)	Leasing.Com Trophy	1-0
2017-18 - 8 Nov (A)	Checkatrade Trophy	2-4	Goddard, Mullin, Gordon, Woolery

FULL RECORD V BRISTOL ROVERS

P	W	D	L	F	A
153	68	20	65	219	227

TICKET NEWS

There will be NO tickets on sale on the day on Saturday. However, Town fans can still currently buy tickets online by clicking right HERE.

TEAM NEWS

Jack Payne and Mathieu Baudry are both progressing well but won't feature tomorrow, while Jojo Wollacott could be involved after returning from African Cup of Nations duty with Ghana.

For Bristol Rovers, they will be able to call upon the services of former Town striker Leon Clarke, who is back in contention after recovering from a long lay-off.

A WORD FROM BOTH CAMPS...

Ben Garner, Swindon Town Head Coach: "We need to be very intense with what we do, particularly without the ball, but with the ball we want to try and play our game and have as much control of that game tomorrow as we can.

"We want to create as much as we can, play on the front foot and we had real domination for long periods against Port Vale last week. We had over 20 shots on goal, they only had three and that's what we want to try and recreate as much as we possibly can.

"They have a big squad at Rovers with one of the bigger budgets in the league, lots of quality within their squad and we know we are going to have to be very, very good to win the game.

"That's all we will focus on."

Joey Barton, Bristol Rovers Manager: "We've progressed as a team and we're certainly a much more balanced outfit now.

"The best is out in front of us and we feel we can go to these stadiums against sides that have had a good start to the year and probably show a different look to what we did when we faced them earlier in the year.

"We're moving in the right direction but it will be another tough test for us at Swindon on Saturday."

Clarke BR.jpeg

ONE TO WATCH

Leon Clarke is a well-known name to Town fans having spent a short spell at The County Ground during the 2011-12 season, and he signed for Rovers back in the summer.

A serious injury has kept Clarke out since October but, now back in contention for Saturday, the experienced striker will be looking to do some damage against his former team.

ELSEWHERE IN SKY BET LEAGUE TWO

Barrow v Mansfield Town (3pm)

Crawley Town v Tranmere Rovers (3pm)

Forest Green Rovers v Carlisle United (3pm)

Harrogate Town v Oldham Athletic (3pm)

Hartlepool United v Stevenage (3pm)

Leyton Orient v Port Vale (3pm)

Rochdale v Bradford City (3pm)

Salford City v Colchester United (3pm)

Scunthorpe United v Newport County (3pm)

Sutton United v Northampton Town (3pm)

Walsall v Exeter City (3pm)

OFFICIALS

Referee - Tom Nield

Assistant Referee - Conor Farrell

Assistant Referee - Kevin Howick

Fourth Official - Marvyn Amphlett

FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE

Not at The County Ground on Saturday? Don’t panic because there are numerous ways to keep up to date with all the action.

Live updates will be available on our Twitter and Facebook pages, in addition to our Match Centre on the website, which can be found at the top of the home page on matchdays.

In the wake of the game, https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/ will be the place to go with a full report, reaction and pictures available to view and read through shortly after the final whistle.

Match Reports

MATCH REPORT: Swindon Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers

Reds earn a hard-fought point

22 January 2022

Swindon Town were forced to settle for a share of the spoils on Derby Day in a 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers in the EFL Sky Bet League Two at The County Ground earlier today.

Tyreece Simpson's well-taken effort gave the Reds an early lead, but Aaron Collins pounced late on in the first-half to set up a thrilling second 45-minutes.

The second-half wasn't so much thrilling as hard-fought with both teams unable to muster up a winner, and the game ended in a draw.

Town Head Coach Ben Garner named an unchanged Starting XI, keeping faith with the same team that outplayed and outclassed Port Vale the weekend before.

There was one change on the bench, though, with Jojo Wollacott being named amongst the subs fresh after returning from African Cup of Nations duty with Ghana on Friday.

It was a positive start for the Reds as Louis Reed swung in a beautiful free-kick, with Ben Gladwin firing an effort over the bar.

Swindon_Bristol Rovers_0023.JPG

Town won a succession of early corners and were seeing plenty of the ball, although they survived a scare after Aaron Collins' low, driven cross just evaded the outstretched Ryan Loft who was inches away from giving the visitors the lead.

Rovers then won the ball back and launched a dangerous counter-attack, which ended in Collins charging forwards and firing a shot wide of the post.

It would be Town who would land the first blow of the game, however, as after winning back possession, Tyreece Simpson set his sights before firing home a superb strike to give his team the lead.

Jake O'Brien then came close to opening his account for the club after nodding just over, before Ellis Iandolo saw his cross deflected behind with the Reds launching wave after wave of attack on the Rovers goal.

Following a cagey period with both teams battling for the ball, there was another goal but it went the way of the visitors as Collins got the final touch on a deep cross from Sam Finley to steer it past Lewis Ward and make honours even heading in at the break.

HALF-TIME: SWINDON TOWN 1-1 BRISTOL ROVERS

There was a cagey opening to the second-half and it took until the 51st minute for the first chance of the half to arrive, with Sam Nicholson cutting in and forcing Ward into a low save.

Town had to weather a slight storm before the game became mired in a midfield battle, with both teams fighting for every single inch.

The Reds did have a golden opportunity past the hour mark as Simpson latched onto a pinpoint pass before powering his way into the box, but his shot flashes inches wide of the far post.

Swindon_Bristol Rovers_0020.JPG

Harry McKirdy then tried his luck from distance but his effort was smothered by Rovers Keeper James Belshaw, with chances soon drying up for both teams.

With the game entering its final few minutes, Town looked to try and muster up one more attack but they were frustrated, with the game finishing in a draw.

FINAL SCORE: SWINDON TOWN 1-1 BRISTOL ROVERS

TEAMS AND STATS

SWINDON TOWN - Ward; Odimayo, Iandolo, Conroy (C), Gladwin, Simpson, McKirdy, O'Brien, Williams, Hunt, Reed.

SUBS NOT USED - Wollacott, Lyden, Mitchell-Lawson, East, Aguiar, Parsons, Dabre.

SCORERS - Tyreece Simpson (16).

BOOKED - Ellis Iandolo.

BRISTOL ROVERS - Belshaw; Connolly, Grant, Finley, Collins (Luke Thomas 84), Nicholson (Leon Clarke 90), Coutts (C), Taylor, Evans, Hoole, Loft (Harry Anderson 90).

SUBS NOT USED - Jaakkola, Anderton, Spence, Pitman.

SCORERS - Aaron Collins (35).

BOOKED - Connor Taylor, Sam Finley, Ryan Loft, Paul Coutts, Josh Grant.

Referee - Tom Nield

Attendance - 12,695 (2,473 Away Fans).

Ticket News

Come back the boys against Rovers!

Help us pack The CG!

17 January 2022

It is Local Derby week with Swindon Town taking on rivals Bristol Rovers in the EFL Sky Bet League Two at The County Ground this weekend.

Ben Garner's team host The Gas at SN1 in a mouthwatering Local Derby clash on Saturday 22nd January 2022, with the game kicking off at an earlier time of 1:00pm.

It is a huge game for the Reds who are chasing down an automatic promotion place, and tickets are now on sale for fans to purchase.

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