ACCRINGTON STANLEY VS BRISTOL ROVERS, LEAGUE TWO

Pressure’s mounting on Gas as their league woes continue

- by Will Murray

AFTER Bristol Rovers’ 2-1 win against Salford City in late September, the Gas extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight and occupied seventh in the table - the last playoff spot in League Two. Since then, Darrell Clarke's side have lost six league games in a row, including Saturday's 3-1 defeat away at Accrington Stanley.

It was a nightmare start for Rovers, with Isaac Heath opening the scoring after only six minutes. Despite Kamil Conteh’s second half strike to level the game, Farrend Rawson and Isaac Sinclair scored in the 72nd and 77th minutes, respectively, to condemn the Gas to another painful defeat.

After the Salford win, Clarke's side were looking up the table and were only five points off the top. Now, they're only three points above the relegation zone, occupied by Newport County and Cheltenham Town. They face Steve Cotterill’s side away next week in what already looks like a pivotal game in the context of Rovers’ season.

With that said, here are the standout talking points from the 3-1 defeat at the Wham Stadium.

Torrid record at Accrington continues

In the EFL’s pre-match stat pack for Rovers’ trip to Accrington, they included the following statement: “Bristol Rovers have failed to win any of their eight away Football League games against Accrington Stanley (D2 L6), only ever facing Sunderland (15) and Nottingham Forest (10) more on the road without registering a victory.”

That winless run was extended to nine on Saturday, and there is clearly something about the Wham Stadium that brings out the worst in the Gas.

When Conteh fired his right-footed effort past Ollie Wright in the 59th minute, the Gas looked like they had a golden opportunity to end that dismal away record.