Bristol Rovers v County

Dave Challinor's men travel to the South West knowing three points will take them above Wrexham into 3rd place

Feb 11, 2025

Tuesday 11 February 2025

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Bristol Rovers supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Nick Lee and Ian Brown are with us today, ahead of our midweek trip to cider country.

Today’s edition is sponsored by That Cat Flap Company. A big thank you to Matthew.

Thanks also to No L’s of Bristol who sponsor our Bristol Rovers content on the website.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 216.74 miles

Total steps so far: 353,516

Total raised so far: £2,270

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

Nick Lee, SK3 TV

Bristol Rovers 0 County 3

Are we going up?

It's a proper tough question. One thing is for sure, we've definitely surpassed “whisper it quietly” territory, so we can stop speculating about that.

As far back as the summer I was convinced we'd finish top six at the very least and I've seen nothing to change my mind on that. However, looking at our current form and the games coming up, I've got a feeling we're going to take the race for that second automatic spot right to the wire. Despite that though, I just can't shake the feeling that we're going to lose out to either Wrexham or Bolton in the play-offs. Which will be completely fine and will represent a successful season, but I'd rather it weren't against one of those two.

➡️ Nick’s one of the co-hosts of SK3 TV, a new podcast for the 2024-25 season, with live episodes every Monday at 8pm. Click here for links.

Ian Brown, All Things Stockport County

Bristol Rovers 1 County 2

Why do you think we seem to be struggling during the second half of games at the moment?

I’m not entirely sure what the cause is, but with us winning five on the trot, perhaps the problem, if it indeed is one, is maybe not a massive one!

That said, an examination of all five games shows a tendency by County to establish a lead and then sit back in the second half and live on their wits. That’s perhaps a little unkind as in all these matches County displayed great defensive capabilities along with masterful game management that saw them home each time. But the inescapable facts are that from playing really positive attacking football we then, apparently, opted for a less expansive approach inviting our opponents to attack us.

Is this deliberate policy imposed on the team by its manager, the result of tiredness on the players’ part, or the product of some other factor? I would be surprised if it was the result of a dictated policy, as surely Challinor would want us to maximise our advantage in games whilst eliminating risk. But there is another element consistent throughout these five games, namely that Tanto has in each case been the first player ‘hooked’, this being in my view the catalyst for a recovery for our opponents who get the idea we are relaxing and that they therefore can attack us - and all of them did!

There is no one on our books just now, that we have so far seen, who can produce the raw fear in opposing defences that Tanto can, so better use of our substitutions would help, and for me, we keep our goalscoring number nine where he is best employed - on the pitch for as long as we can!

➡️ Ian follows County home and away, producing detailed match reports every week, along with lots of other great content. Head over to hedgegrower.blogspot.com.

Tonight’s other predictions

Hatters Matters: Bristol Rovers 1 County 2

The County Away Day Show: Bristol Rovers 2 County 1

The Scarf Bergara Wore: Bristol Rovers 1 County 3

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