Football / Bristol Rovers
Gas must put potential Anfield tie to back of minds as Canaries come to town
The Memorial Stadium will play host to the third round FA Cup replay between Bristol Rovers and Norwich City on Wednesday evening.
Norwich will arrive at the Mem keen to rectify the mistakes they made in the original tie at Carrow Road, which finished a goal apiece.
The Gas, who are looking to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2008, thoroughly deserved the draw and were ultimately unlucky not to return to Bristol with their place in the next round already secured.
is needed now More than ever
After the Canaries took the lead in the 12th minute through former Premier League frontman Ashley Barnes and then came close to a second moments later following a fast-flowing attack, it looked as if Matt Taylor’s side were in for a long afternoon.
But, only five minutes later, Rovers responded in emphatic style, with midfielder Grant Ward scoring a fantastic trivela from the edge of the box.
In what was thereafter a game of few genuine goal-scoring opportunities, Rovers had the better of the chances, with Luke Thomas smacking the ball against the post with a searing effort seconds after Jevani Brown should have slotted the ball home from a matter of yards out.
However, Norwich manager David Wagner rested six players for the tie, and it will be interesting to see whether he decides to revert to his full-strength eleven for the replay.
Despite facing a weakened Norwich side, the Pirates will take plenty of encouragement from the fact they did not look out of place against Championship opposition and will hope they can now go one step further with the Mem crowd roaring them on every step of the way.
Matt Taylor certainly expects the Gas fans to have a big impact; following the game in East Anglia.
He said: “We like playing at home. We look forward to it and I’m pretty sure that Norwich won’t be looking forward to a Tuesday night at the Mem.”
Rovers drew 1-1 with Norwich earlier this month – photo: Bristol Rovers
Last Monday’s fourth round draw revealed that the winner of the tie will travel to Anfield later this month to face Liverpool.
With a mouth-watering clash against Jurgen Klopp’s men only 90 minutes of football away, the Bristol Rovers players must not get ahead of themselves and focus on the game in hand.
They must also put in a better performance than they did over the weekend, as – despite creating more noteworthy chances – they fell to a frustrating 2-1 defeat away at Barnsley.
Old habits continued to cost the Gas, as they were once again guilty of conceding soft goals, and with no clean sheet since Taylor’s arrival at the beginning of December, it looks as if they will struggle to keep Norwich out over what could potentially be 120 minutes of football.
Meanwhile, the Canaries will be full of confidence heading into the replay after they beat Hull City 2-1 at the weekend to boost their hopes of promotion.
Main photo: Bristol Rovers
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