Bristol Rovers predicted team vs Peterborough: 'Unlucky' Connor Taylor set for league chance

Matt Taylor will have to make at least one change in Bristol Rovers' defence this afternoon for their game at Peterborough United with Taylor Moore suspended

After what was seen as a good start to the season, Bristol Rovers are at risk of the narrative regarding their opening handful of league matches changing completely as they face a trip to Peterborough United this afternoon.

Regardless of the fact that Rovers head into today's game on the back of back-to-back defeats, confidence is never particularly high amongst Gasheads ahead of a trip to London Road, a ground where the Gas traditionally tend to struggle.

February 2006 is the last time Rovers secured a league win over Posh away from home, winning 2-1 in League Two. The Gas are winless in their last 10 visits to that part of Cambridgeshire and haven't scored a league goal there since August 2018.

Admittedly, Peterborough haven't started quite as well as their supporters might have hoped and are still yet to win on their own patch this season which should give Rovers some degree of confidence. Either way, they need to respond to last weekend's heavy home defeat to Wigan Athletic in a positive way.

Going down 4-0 at The Mem was a major shock and the margin should've been even bigger with some of the chances Wigan squandered. The Gas started the game brightly but as soon as they went behind, they capitulated.

The point that this is a new-look team full of youngsters will be continuously made but Matt Taylor is evidently keen to avoid using such excuses. At the end of the day, he will be judged on how many football matches his team wins.

The Rovers manager kept his cards close to his chest in regards to who might be unavailable this weekend but at least one change from last weekend's starting line up will be made with Taylor Moore starting a three-game suspension after being shown a straight red card for what can only be described as a moment of head loss.

There are no prizes for guessing who might replace the central defender correctly but we'll get to that later. Absences or not, you would imagine that Taylor will be keen to rejig his team around in certain areas on the back of last weekend. How that looks is yet to be seen but, as always, we've given predicting it a good crack.

Goalkeeper and defence

Thankfully there wasn't any major outrage aimed in Josh Griffiths' direction after last weekend's match on the back of a poor afternoon for the goalkeeper. Conceding four is never great but the West Brom loanee's mistake allowed Wigan to score their third goal early in the second half, effectively derailing any faint hopes of a Gas comeback.

However, it was a major anomaly. The 23-year-old has arguably been Rovers' best player this season with three clean sheets and a number of heroic saves to keep points in tact for his side. The vast majority of supporters seemed to recognise the mistake but also the fact that it should prove to be a blip after such a fantastic start.

In front of Griffiths, you would expect James Wilson and Clinton Mola to keep their places in the back-three while there is very little doubt that Connor Taylor will be stepping in for his first league start of the season, replacing the suspended Moore.

The fact that the 22-year-old hasn't been able to get into the team emphasises how well the defence largely were playing up until last weekend but an opportunity was inevitably going to come his way and now it seems that way. Michael Forbes could technically step in too but the West Ham loanee hasn't made the bench for a league game since the opening day.

Asked about Taylor and this chance to come back into the side, the defender's namesake said: "Defensively, that’s generally been our solid part and our better part of our game and he’s been unlucky not to get an opportunity before this weekend. That’s only been on the form of Willo, Taylor Moore, Clinton Mola to a certain extent and that’s kept him out of the team.

"He’s done nothing wrong but he came into pre-season late on the back of obviously that injury. It wasn’t just that injury in the Peterborough game, that was his hamstring, but he had this surgery on his knee. There was a secondary factor in relation to that.

"So yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing Connor get a run in the team but you’d rather him go into it when the team are in a better position than what happened at the weekend. But he still played 45 minutes and was part of the second half so let’s not put it all on this weekend for Connor. He’ll need a bit of time to get up and running but I think we all feel that there is a player of certain elk and quality that can add to this group."

Midfield

Taylor has highlighted the midfield as a major area for improvement a couple of times recently and he said the same on Thursday previewing today's game after the trio of Kamil Conteh, Jake Garrett and Isaac Hutchinson struggled to get any sort of grip on the match against Wigan.

There is certainly a case for Conteh suffering from fatigue having only just come back from international duty with Sierra Leone last week while Garrett has shown promise in spells and Hutchinson has so far struggled with the step up in division. The attack-minded midfielder will no doubt come good eventually but it's been a tough start to life at Rovers for the 24-year-old.

Grant Ward could be deemed fit enough to start having missed last weekend's game. The 29-year-old is capable of a lot more than what he's demonstrated in a number of his appearances so far this term but it's no surprise that the Gas have a much better record with the midfielder than without.

Additionally, it seems inevitable that Taylor will now look to Jamie Lindsay to provide experience and knowhow in the middle of the pitch. The 28-year-old is yet to start a league game and has endured a slightly disrupted start to his Rovers tenure, arriving at the club not fully fit before picking up an injury just two league games into the season. However, he came off the bench last weekend and now seems set to start this weekend.

The Rovers manager was also complimentary of Kofi Shaw previewing this game after the 17-year-old missed out on a place on the bench last weekend. There is certainly a case for the teenager to start this afternoon with Taylor admitting that for some games he's closer to starting than being on the bench.

It feels as though it might slightly be too soon for that but fans will be hoping their academy starlet is at least on the bench.

Bristol Rovers Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol Rovers Live's Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol Rovers stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol Rovers Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol Rovers news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

There is argument that, as a trio, a central midfield of Conteh, Lindsay and Ward is slightly too defensive but with the experience and quality the latter two bring, it's an experiment worth making.

Meanwhile, on the flanks Luke Thomas is a certain on the right but will be frustrated with his last two performances having really struggled to make any sort of notable impact, especially considering how effective he was against Cambridge United.

On the left, Lino Sousa replaced Byrant Bilongo who had suffered from illness in the build-up to Wigan but you would expect Bilongo to come back into the side. Despite being withdrawn at half-time, Sousa did well in patches but doesn't yet rank above his fellow left-back who has started so impressively.

Strikers

In all honesty, one of the easier areas of the pitch to predict currently. After a quiet game against Wigan, the partnership of Promise Omochere and Ruel Sotiriou will hopefully have more to feed off of today. Both are now off the mark and should be confident in front of goal.

The pair had very little service last weekend and may have to feed off of scraps at times once again in a game that will likely see the hosts dominate possession. However, as dangerous as Peterborough can be in the final third, they do give up chances and you would expect at least one decent opportunity to fall to either striker. The hope for Rovers will be that they have their shooting boots on.

Neither Gatlin O'Donkor or Shaq Forde seem ready for starts just yet and Taylor has admitted that the duo aren't quite out-and-out strikers given their ability to play on the wing. However, they're great options to be able to bring off the bench, which you assume will happen at some point in the game.

Bristol Rovers XI (3-5-2): Josh Griffiths; Connor Taylor, James Wilson, Clinton Mola; Luke Thomas, Kamil Conteh, Jamie Lindsay, Grant Ward, Bryant Bilongo; Ruel Sotiriou, Promise Omochere