Team News
Luton
Luton have got some worries before the Bristol Rovers match on Saturday. Two players are thought to have picked up slight injuries in the win over Northampton in midweek. David Bell is definitely the most serious worry, with a calf injury possibly aggravated. He was taken off 20 minutes into the Mickey Mouse Cup match against Northampton, but fortunately he should be ok for the Bristol Rovers clash on Saturday at midday. Left-back Alan Goodall
 | Bell: May miss out |
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also picked up an injury towards the end of the match, but again he should be ok to play on Saturday - after all, he was very much indestructible last year apparently, so a blow to the back shouldn't worry him. If Goodall is out of the clash, then it wouldn't be as serious as if Bell was out, until you realise that Lewis Emanuel would be the man to take his place. David Edwards is definitely out as he is on duty tonight with the Welsh Under-21 squad, so good luck to him, and his departure will be a big loss. Steve Robinson could yet be called up to the Northern Ireland squad, as he is on standby for Nigel Worthington's men. If any Luton fan questions Robinson's call, then just remember that Warren Feeney is regularly called up to the Northern Ireland squad, so Robbo has a better chance of scoring for them than at least one player. Richard Jackson's position is unclear - he may be in or out after a recent injury, so Keane may start again. Peschisolido is also back in the squad after scoring a goal midweek.
The start to the season has seen a slight trend emerging concerning home and away matches. Luton seem to be pretty effective at home, not always playing well but getting wins (4 out of 4 so far), but away there is just the win at League Two Dagenham in the cup, and defeats at Swindon and Leeds in the league. Although we didn't necessarily deserve to lose to Leeds at the
 | Fojut: May be given a chance |
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weekend, we certainly didn't have the cutting edge in the final third. Furlong did put the ball in the net, but the effort was ruled out for a dubious foul, but apart from that I never felt we were going to score, despite coming close a few times. We have scored a lot of goals from midfield so far this season, but we did that at the start of last season, which showed that we can't rely too much on midfielders to score the goals for us. Hopefully Blackwell will stick with Talbot and Furlong up front, as that looks our best partnership. Bell will probably play, despite a possible injury, and Spring and Currie should be in, along with either Robinson or Hutchinson. Defence should be Keane, Goodall, Coyne and Perry, although it would be nice to see Fojut given a chance. Forde or Brill will play in goal, so basically, your guess is as good as mine.
Predicted Team - Forde (GK), Goodall (DL), Keane (DR), Coyne (DC), Perry (DC), Bell (ML), Currie (MC), Spring (MC), Robinson (MC), Furlong (SC), Talbot (SC)
Bristol Rovers
Gasheads manager Paul Trollope has a number of key players missing. Aaron Lescott (brother of Everton and England defender Joleon) may possibly miss out with a knee injury, although there is a chance he could make the match. David Pipe is also doubtful because of an illness, which is a problem for Bristol Rovers, as both players are full-backs. Ryan Green, another full-back, is also out, as he has an Achilles problem. Joe Jacobsen has been called up to the Wales U-21 squad along with David Edwards, so Lewis Haldane should fill in for him on the left-side of midfield. Goalkeeper Mike Green is also out after chipping a bone in his finger last month. Bristol Rovers have had a very good start to the season since coming up from League Two, and they are currently 8th, just behind Luton with the same goal difference and the same amount of points. Rovers are actuallly unbeaten in the league this season, and only West Ham United have beaten them so far this season. The League Cup first round saw Bristol Rovers draw 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace, with Rovers winning 4-1 on penalties. However, their only other win this season has come at Boundary Park, where Joe Jacobsen scored the only goal of the game to beat Oldham 1-0.
Connections
You may think that there haven't actually been that many players and coaching staff who have played for both teams, and you would be right.
 | Lawrence: Optimist |
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However, there are currently two people employed by Rovers who have Luton connections. Sammy Igoe scored the last goal in the Play-Off Final win last season against Shrewsbury, and may start tomorrow. Igoe had a loan spell at Luton in 2003, where he looked good, although he only played a couple of games before picking up an injury. The other connection is more notorious in Luton fans eyes. Our manager for five long difficult years, Lennie Lawrence, is currently Director of Football at Bristol Rovers. After leaving Luton, Lawrence managed Grimsby and Cardiff with reasonable success, and then joined up with Paul Trollope at Rovers. Paul Trollope must be a very good young manager, as he has managed to get Bristol Rovers promoted in spite of Lennie Lawrence being at Rovers. Lawrence is well remembered for his optimistic style whilst at Luton, as well as his big wide smile, and like recent Luton managers, he had his own chant for years, usually his name preceding the word 'out'. Hunky blonde
 | Waddock: Played for both |
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midfielder Gary Waddock also played for both clubs, making over 150 appearances for Luton and over 70 for Bristol Rovers. He is now manager of Aldershot Town. Michael Leary (now at Barnet) also had a loan spell at Bristol Rovers, making 13 appearances, compared with 22 in 5 years at Luton.
Past Meetings
Luton have the edge over Bristol Rovers in meetings between the two sides, although less so in recent years. The last meeting between the two teams was actually last year in a First Round League Cup match at Bristol Rovers. Adam Boyd scored early on for Luton, but an equaliser from Rovers from Richard Walker forced penalties, with Luton winning 5-3 from the spot. Luton have actually played Rovers four times in the League Cup, with Luton winning three times. The last encounter in the league was in 2001-02, a match that saw Luton win 3-0, and the match that kicked off the start of the 12 match winning run. Second half goals from Steve Howard, Chris Coyne and a Kevin Nicholls penalty ensured the win, with Stephen Foster getting sent off for Rovers (not the same one that played for Luton, obviously). The last match at the Memorial Stadium resulted in a 3-2 win for Rovers, and they have scored 4 goals against us in both 1997 and 2000. No look back at previous Luton matches with Bristol Rovers would be complete without a mention of the 1936 game, in which Joe Payne scored 10 times for Luton in the club's record 12-0 win, and Luton had actually won 6-2 the previous season. Payne went on to score 55 times the next season for Luton. Overall, Luton have won 27 times out of 44 at Kenilworth Road and Rovers just 7, although 3 of those have come since 1997. Luton have also scored an average of over 2 goals a game at home to Rovers, and have won 35 out of 87 matches out of all meetings between the two sides. Bristol Rovers have won 28 matches overall.
Prediction
A lot of fans may expect us to beat newly-promoted Bristol Rovers  | Edwards: Won't play |
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quite easily, possibly. Hartlepool did play very well against us, however, and a match against unbeaten Rovers won't be an easy one either. Both teams have players out, so it could possibly be two scrappy performances, and I'm going for a 1-1 draw, because the Gasheads are performing very well. I hope I'm wrong and we can go on to win though, but Rovers have scored in each game this season.
