Prieviews from Oldham
And from Bristol
Bookies heavily favour Rovers

It would be a major surprise if the Boundary Park manager, who was delighted with last week's display against Bury, lost faith in the players who delivered it. Ritchie made at least at two changes per match as he searched for the formula which would end Athletic's duck. Now he is ready to halt his experimentation and back his players to reproduce the fighting spirit which has given the whole club a lift.

Ritchie said: "The lads know it will be a hard game, but they have to believe in themselves. They did that against Bury and must now show the same attitude every week." Defender Stuart Thom is added to the squad after recovering from a broken toe. He could replace Richard Graham on the substitutes' bench and will be cover for Shaun Garnett, who has been suffering from an abdominal strain. Scott McNiven will keep his place at centre-half and faces a stern test as marker for Rovers striker Jamie Cureton.

Cureton topped the second division's scoring charts last year and is again in excellent form alongside eight-goal Jason Roberts. After his promising performance last week, Matthew Tipton will keep his place on the left-hand side of midfield, while Mark Allott and Steve Whitehall have another chance to work on their partnership up front.

ATHLETIC (probable): Kelly, Rickers, Holt, Garnett, S McNiven, Adams, Duxbury, Sheridan, Tipton, Whitehall, Allott. Subs (from): Miskelly, Tait, Thom, Innes, Sugden, Graham. Fifth-placed Rovers have a doubt over midfield man David Pritchard, but are expected to patch up his gashed shin.

ROVERS (probable): Jones, Pethick, Challis, Thomson, Tillson, Foster, Hillier, Mauge, Pritchard, Cureton, Roberts. Subs (from): Bryant, Penrice, Ellington, Bennett, Trought, Kuipers. 

Yet they had a ready-made successor in Roberts, who was already at the club after a £250,000 move from Wolves. Roberts — a big, quick battering ram of a player — blossomed in the spotlight and ended the season with 23 goals in league and cup. Even that handsome total, however, didn’t match Cureton. The pocket dynamo, who cost £250,000 from Norwich four years ago, managed 29 of his own to earn the second division’s Golden Boot award and ensure Rovers always managed to hover above the dreaded drop zone which Athletic know so well. That combined contribution of 52 goals was a lifesaver for Ian Holloway, who has been navigating The Pirates through some choppy waters since 1996. Holloway, renowned as a combative midfielder in his playing prime, concentrates on management these days and is doing a good job in awkward circumstances. The closest he has come to raising Rovers from the second division was the season before last when, after finishing fifth in the table, they lost narrowly to Northampton in the play-off semi-finals.

If their start to the new campaign is a reliable guide, the year of mediocrity which ended in May was no more than a temporary aberration. The West Country side currently stand in fifth place, with four wins and a draw from their first seven games. They have already beaten promotion fancies Gillingham and Burnley, with the only defeats coming against leaders Wigan and — courtesy of a last-gasp goal at Wrexham. Rovers have also knocked Luton out of the Worthington Cup, with Roberts hitting the net three times in their 4-2 aggregate win. And, on Tuesday, they kept a toe-hold in the competition with a 2-0 first-leg defeat at Birmingham, one of the leading candidates for promotion to the Premiership. One of the vital ingredients in their encouraging start is a new-found solidity at the back. Rovers have played three home league games without conceding a goal — a statistic which will delight Holloway after his switch from flat back four to sweeper system.

Influential in defence are Robbie Pethick and the in-form Andy Thomson, two of the club’s trio of ex-Portsmouth players. That contingent is completed by midfield battler David Hillier, who played over 100 games for Arsenal and arrived on a free transfer last season. The only new face is 30-year-old midfielder Ronnie Mauge, recruited on a free transfer from Plymouth and a player linked with Athletic during the reign of Neil Warnock. While Rovers have plenty of experience in their ranks, their squad tomorrow may also feature young prodigy Simon Bryant. Bryant, at the tender of age of 16, became the second youngest player in the club’s history when he made three appearances in place of the suspended Mauge earlier in the season. The match at the Memorial Ground — now owned by Rovers after they were originally tenants of Bristol Rugby Union Club — will be a daunting test for basement side Athletic. There was a hint of mischief from Warnock when he suggested after the win against Bury that Athletic had only played so well because he himself was the enemy. But there was also some truth in his remarks. Andy Ritchie’s men must dredge up that same burning desire if they are to prove that last week’s performance wasn’t simply a one-off inspired by hostility and a desire to settle scores from the past.

Ian Holloway today made it clear he will have to shed players from his Bristol Rovers squad before he is able to bring in fresh faces. Although the manager is on the look-out for new signings to add more strength in depth to his squad, he admits he will have to get fringe players off the wage bill first – and has no spare cash to spend. Stephane Leoni could be the first to depart if he impresses Oxford United. The French defender started a trial spell with the Second Division club yesterday. Though young keeper Ray Johnston is on loan at Southampton, Holloway is still waiting for inquiries about three other players who have had their details circulated – Michael Meaker, Rob Trees and Michel Kuipers.

“Stephane is one of the players on the fringe who would be better playing first-team games somewhere,” said Holloway. “He’s a right-back, not a right wing-back, but he needs to be playing. “I want to bring in more competition to keep people on their toes, but I have to move people out first – even if it is on loan for a while – because I have no money to spend.” At least Rovers’ injury worries are easing before tomorrow’s match against Oldham at the Memorial Stadium, with the midfield trio all likely to be clear to play. Ronnie Mauge and David Hillier resumed training yesterday after knocks, and David Pritchard is optimistic he will be able to protect his gashed shin sufficiently to start the match. Holloway is happy to be back on home turf after three consecutive away trips. “It took us months to get our first away win last season and we have already got a couple this year, which shows things have improved,” said Holloway.

“Now I just want us to show the consistency we have in our previous home matches by keeping a clean sheet and having lots of shots and crosses. “At Wigan I thought we concentrated so much on trying to stay top of the division that we forget what it was that got us there! “But I don’t feel we’ve got what we’ve deserved from the last two matches. We have been creating chances but we do need to improve our finishing. “We have spent the last few weeks going to some super grounds and the backing from our supporters has been magnificent. Now we have to make sure we give them something to shout about tomorrow.” Oldham are among the bookies’ favourites for the drop this season and picked up their first points last weekend with a win over Lancashire rivals Bury. “They have had one win in six, but that means nothing,” said Holloway.

Rovers (probable): Jones, Pethick, Thomson, Tillson, Foster, Challis, Hillier, Mauge, Pritchard, Roberts, Cureton. Subs (from): Bryant, Penrice, Trought, Ellington, Bennett, Kuipers. It's pay-back time

Bristol Rovers have just lost two games in a row for the first time this season – but Trevor Challis returns to battle tomorrow feeling nothing but optimism. The left wing-back spent Tuesday night’s Worthington Cup game at St Andrews cheering on his team-mates from the stand while he served a one-match ban. But he was back on the field 24 hours later in a reserve team game at Wycombe – playing as a sweeper! Now, as he prepares to resume his first-team duties against Oldham, he sees the game as an ideal opportunity to pay back the fans who have given Rovers such excellent support during their run of three consecutive away games. “Our supporters have been magnificent over the last couple of weeks with long trips to Scunthorpe and Wigan, and to see and hear so many of them at Birmingham for a night game was fantastic,” he said.

“The best way the players can repay them for that is to go out tomorrow and bank three points against Oldham.” The Lancashire club arrive at the Memorial Stadium lying bottom of the table, and Challis feels the match will offer another useful yardstick to measure Rovers’ progress. “It was just this sort of game that we would sometimes struggle to win at home last season but victory tomorrow is important to give ourselves a bit of a lift,” he added. “We need to go out and do a good, professional job to make sure we get up and running again. “Some people might think we’d be down after two defeats on the trot but I certainly feel really optimistic about our prospects for the rest of this season. “We were just a fraction off our form at Wigan last weekend and got punished ruthlessly for any mistake we made at the back. “At Birmingham I thought the lads did brilliantly in the first half and it was only the decision for their penalty that changed the game. “But there are so many positive points here at the moment that we won’t let a couple of results like that affect us. “We’ve kept a lot of clean sheets already this season, so to suddenly concede five goals in two games looks bad by comparison.  “But they were both against clubs who have spent an awful lot of money – one of them near the top of the First Division – and I didn’t think that in terms of quality we were far adrift of either.”

Challis’ dismissal for a second booking in the victory against Burnley last month helped maintain a remarkable sequence of seven successive League games which saw either Rovers or their opponents finish with 10 men. It was the third red card of his Rovers career and the former QPR defender aims to ensure it will be the last for a while. “As a defender, tackling is part of the game and I do enjoy a challenge – but I don’t think I’m a dirty player,” he insisted. Manager Ian Holloway is certainly be glad to see his first-choice player return after Stephane Leoni filled the slot at Birmingham. Holloway: “I thought Stephane did fairly well for us on Tuesday but maybe having Trevor galloping up and down the left-hand side will give us that little bit extra,” he said.