Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury - Match preview

The Gas are struggling at the wrong end of the table and on Monday appointed Joey Barton as their new manager.

They lost to Wigan on Tuesday but now that Barton has had more time with the squad this week, Town coach Longwell is expecting a tough test as they fight to avoid relegation.

“He’s going to a club with different players so what Joey did at Fleetwood isn’t necessarily going to happen at Bristol Rovers,” Longwell said.

“All we can do is look at their last game but it’s still a bit of an unknown. We have to prepare as best we can.

“We know it’s going to be a really tough game because they have good players.

“They’re going to come after us. They’re fighting for points as we all are.

“They have good players that have maybe underperformed a little bit.

“We have to be wary of them and know they have good players that can score goals.

“At any level when a new manager comes in you always get that bounce so we expect that on Saturday.

“They’ll be coming after us and we have to be ready for that.”

Town have certainly benefitted from a new manager bounce as their form has been superb since Steve Cotterill took over at the end of November.

Although the 56-year-old has been battling Covid-19, Longwell and Aaron Wilbraham have continued Salop’s form, which has seen them go unbeaten in their last four games, winning three of them.

They have now climbed to 16th in the league after the 4-2 win over MK Dons on Tuesday and Longwell insists the players are reaping the rewards for their effort.

He added: “The players have been excellent regarding their mindset and attitude to want to get better. It’s because they’re working hard that we’re getting rewards.

“If you work hard you’ll get a goal and get those rewards.

“There’s a good spirit about them and winning games builds confidence. The results also build the momentum.”

Donald Love was withdrawn with an injury early on in the midweek win and with no right-back on the bench winger Josh Daniels had to step in.

Longwell has now revealed Love could be in contention for tomorrow’s clash.

“Donald’s groin was a bit tight and because at the time we were 3-0 up it was an easy one to take him off,” he said.

“He’s being looked after by the physios and we’ll look at it again to see if he can come back.

“It was just a tight groin so it shouldn’t be too bad.”

Aaron Pierre (calf), Matthew Pennington (shoulder) and Brad Walker (ankle) all remain sidelined through injury and will not be available.

“They’re all long-term injuries and they’re a big part of our group,” Longwell added.

“They’ll keep working with the physio and sport science departments and we’ll hopefully get them back at some point.”

Meanwhile, Longwell has provided the latest update on manager Cotterill as he recovers from Covid-19.

After spending 33 days in hospital, including some in intensive care, he is now back at his family home in Bristol and is continuing to work with the club.

Longwell said: “I spoke to him on Wednesday for a couple hours, just catching up on a lot of stuff.

“We went over the match the other night and he’s still in contact every day with the planning and preparation.

“He’s out of hospital back home and working really hard helping us. He is getting better but it’s such a serious virus that it just takes time.

“Unfortunately for him he got a really bad dose of it and he has to be patient. He’ll say it himself but he’s not the most patient person in the world so it’s really hard for him.

“He’s taking his time while still working as hard as he’s ever done. The specialist tells him to be careful and doing things right. He’s out walking now but he’s taking his time to get his oxygen back.”