v Middlesbrough (a) - 11/1/2025, FA Cup R3

[simongarnerisgod]

bizarre kick off time and a tired rovers team,definately a time to rest some legs surely,im`e normally excited by the fa cup but we can`t handle a deep run in it with our squad,that is if we don`t get any incoming transfers

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

8 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

bizarre kick off time and a tired rovers team,definately a time to rest some legs surely,im`e normally excited by the fa cup but we can`t handle a deep run in it with our squad,that is if we don`t get any incoming transfers

That’s after we’ve played Portsmouth on Wednesday !

[Hasta]

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That’s after we’ve played Portsmouth on Wednesday !

Portsmouth is the 15th.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 minute ago, Hasta said:

Portsmouth is the 15th.

Sorry, my mistake.

[Hasta]

It’s actually difficult to put out a respectably strong team here and rest players. You want to drop one of Batth or Hyam for this game, but brining McFadz in usually means 3 at the back, so you need another.
 

JRC will start but that could mean either at RB or midfield.

Leonard should also get the nod up front. Other than that, it’s whether you want to throw someone like Toth, O’Grady-Macken or Litherland in and see if they sink or swim.

Baker and ACD haven’t played much football so I presume they will get the nod. Dolans been in and out the side recently.

It comes down to who do you definitely not want injured, and for me that’s Tronstadt, Brittain and the two centre halves.

Edited January 5 by Hasta

[chaddyrovers]

                          Toth

           Hyam McFadzean Litherland

         Duru     JRC     Buckley    Hedges

                  Dolan  Weimann

                       Leonard 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

                          Toth

           Hyam McFadzean Litherland

         Duru     JRC     Buckley    Hedges

                  Dolan  Weimann

                       Leonard 

I’m not sure what the story is with Duru. He seems to have gone off the radar. If he’s fit I’d go with that 11.

[Hasta]

If Duru isn’t fit Garrett may well go from unable to get in Bristol Rovers first team to starting for us in the cup.

[chaddyrovers]

7 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m not sure what the story is with Duru. He seems to have gone off the radar. If he’s fit I’d go with that 11.

He trained pre match the Rovers squad before the dingles game

[BankEnd Rover]

Rest as many people as possible, a good opportunity for the youngsters.

 

[KentExile]

18 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m not sure what the story is with Duru. He seems to have gone off the radar. If he’s fit I’d go with that 11.

Duru (and Tyjon) have both been out with injury

[simongarnerisgod]

is gilsenen still injured?????

[Hasta]

8 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

is gilsenen still injured?????

I’ve wrote that lad off. Talented, but there’s a reason he’s fallen from Barcelona to Liverpool to Ewood.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 minutes ago, Hasta said:

I’ve wrote that lad off. Talented, but there’s a reason he’s fallen from Barcelona to Liverpool to Ewood.

It’s a shame, the lad looked to have talent. A nice player.

[JCRovers]

                              Toth

Duru   O'Riordan (if recalled)  McFadzean   Hedges

                   Buckley         Garrett        

       JRC                Tyjon         Gilsenan (if fit)

                           Leonard

Might as well rest everyone who started yesterday and fully focus on game against Portsmouth. Recruitment team has ten days until then to make any signings, let's see what happens. 

[StHelensRover]

Bought a ticket for this one and not really sure why. Got giddy when buying my Oxford ticket and just added to my basket. Will probably only be me there given the inexplicable kick-off time. I wonder if I can go in the first team luggage hold. 

I would be happy with this line-up as well. A free hit as they'll surely make changes too given their league position. An underwhelming draw for both sets of fans. Probably be 5000 on 

 

 

[joey_big_nose]

29 minutes ago, JCRovers said:

                              Toth

Duru   O'Riordan (if recalled)  McFadzean   Hedges

                   Buckley         Garrett        

       JRC                Tyjon         Gilsenan (if fit)

                           Leonard

Might as well rest everyone who started yesterday and fully focus on game against Portsmouth. Recruitment team has ten days until then to make any signings, let's see what happens. 

Could be wrong but I dont think Eustace is a wholesale changes type of manager, think we'll just make 3-4 changes.

Cantwell for one needs to play if fit to try and recover some form 

[RevidgeBlue]

Whoever he puts out we need to win this game and try and regain some momentum.

[roversfan99]

The Portsmouth game being a few days after makes this selection a bit harder.

I always favour going for it in the cup and can never get my head around people who say they dont care about cup games. Our play off push is unlikely to be maintained but a win could also help to boost confidence after a very poor run of form. 

That being said, a small squad and a game so soon after mean that 2 or 3 definitely need resting. Tronstad is the obvious one, the centre backs need a rest and we need to protect Beck.

The problem is, we lack depth in a number of areas. Buckley is crap, McFadzean is our only centre back cover and he will struggle in a back 4 so we will have to play at least 1 of the main centre backs and in other areas we dont have any good cover. We also know that signings wont be here in time.

Toth

JRC Hyam McFadzean Brittain

Buckley Baker

Hedges Weimann Dolan

Leonard

Beck, Pears, Batth, Tronstad, ACD and Cantwell can all come back to start v Pompey.

[roversfan99]

53 minutes ago, JCRovers said:

                              Toth

Duru   O'Riordan (if recalled)  McFadzean   Hedges

                   Buckley         Garrett        

       JRC                Tyjon         Gilsenan (if fit)

                           Leonard

Might as well rest everyone who started yesterday and fully focus on game against Portsmouth. Recruitment team has ten days until then to make any signings, let's see what happens. 

If we play Garrett and O'Riordan, 2 players who clearly arent up to Championship standard as the former has already shown and as both failing to get game time in League 1 highlights. We block them from getting a loan in the second half of the season.

[Hasta]

14 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

If we play Garrett and O'Riordan, 2 players who clearly arent up to Championship standard as the former has already shown and as both failing to get game time in League 1 highlights. We block them from getting a loan in the second half of the season.

Which will tell us a lot about this window.

Edited January 5 by Hasta

[Penwortham Blue]

I would love Rovers to get to the new Wembley, a real pity that we couldn’t hang on at the Blunts in JDT’s first season. However, we must focus everything on maintaining a play off challenge during the second half of the season and on that basis, I would be looking to rest as many as we can and let some of the young lads step up from the U21’s. 

[bluebruce]

4 hours ago, JCRovers said:

                              Toth

Duru   O'Riordan (if recalled)  McFadzean   Hedges

                   Buckley         Garrett        

       JRC                Tyjon         Gilsenan (if fit)

                           Leonard

Might as well rest everyone who started yesterday and fully focus on game against Portsmouth. Recruitment team has ten days until then to make any signings, let's see what happens. 

I'm not convinced there's any point preventing O'Riordan from going out on loan again. I don't see him being any use to us for the rest of the season other than in the cup games or maybe during a massive CB injury crisis. He probably doesn't make the bench at present, let alone when Carter is back in Feb.

Garrett, I do think has a place in the squad, and I wouldn't be loaning him back out. Closest player we have to Travis in style. Not as good of course, won't displace him, but I feel we should use him as cover. Even when he's back, Travis can't play every game. He picks up suspensions and injuries, and perhaps as importantly, whenever we have rushed him back or kept playing him all the time when he's clearly knackered in recent years, he has been far worse. Even if it's just filling in when he's out, and bringing him on at 70 or 80 minutes when the game is won, I think Garrett can be useful. He's nothing special at the moment but he's much better than some posters on here make out.

Gilsenan and Tyjon won't be playing, they're not fit. I don't believe Gilsenan has even played for the U21s this season. Tyjon wasn't in the squad in the last PL2 game, which was mid-December, and hasn't made the first team bench since September. I think he's not fit anyway.

This will be an interesting match in terms of selection, not an easy one. I wish we had landed some shit League Two side, would have been a great testing grounds for young players. But Boro away, we could easily exit the cup and lose more morale if we field a weak side. Hard to say if Toth will play...it's not like Pears needs a rest as he's only a GK. We'd all like to see what Toth has, but given we will likely rest a lot of players, it's a bit of a gamble, as nobody can lose you a game quicker than the wrong keeper. If we end up under the cosh though because we weaken the side, Pears could end up losing confidence if he plays.

[bluebruce]

We should also consider, whether we play Beck or ACD depends partly on whether their parent clubs give us permission. I'd imagine getting permission for Baker won't be a problem, but Liverpool and Brighton may still have thoughts of recalling their lads.

[MarkBRFC]

Presume Garrett & O'Riordan haven't already played in the FA Cup this season?