Let's hope the evil post......

Ten to go, you never know - Can Bristol Rovers sneak a play-off place?

By JamesMcNamara | Posted: March 06, 2017

Bristol Rovers breathed new life into their bid for an unlikely top six finish with an impressive performance and result in victory at Oxford United on Saturday.

Rovers came into 8/1 for a top six finish with league sponsors SkyBet after jumping three places in the League One table to eighth. They are seven behind sixth-place Millwall with 10 games left to play.

Most supporters had the remainder of Rovers' season down as one to be played out to what would be a commendable mid-table finish.

Rovers' fate has gone right to the wire in every season since they finished 14th in League Two under the leadership of John Ward in 2012/13.

Some supporters may be pleased of a break from the suspense – but Darrell Clarke refuses to "rule anything out" and is determined to keep the campaign alive for as long as possible.

The manager accepts that his side have to go on a winning streak of "three or four games" to leave themselves in a realistically challenging position going into the final month of the campaign.

Past history suggests that 73 or 74 points is required to secure a play-off place – meaning Rovers need another 22 points at least between now and the end of the season.

Here the Post looks at the final ten games of the campaign and tries to predict whether rank outsiders Rovers, who are currently eight games unbeaten and strong at home, could surprise everyone with a late dash for the top six.

March 11 – Southend United (h) – If Rovers are to have any chance of upsetting the applecart, a victory over seventh-placed Southend at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday is pretty much essential. Southend have been ticking along under the radar and have recently enjoyed impressive victories away from home at Oxford United and Peterborough United. But Rovers have been strong at the Memorial Stadium all season – Three points.

March 14 – Bury (a) – This represents a harder game than it would have less than a month ago. Bury have been resurgent under new manager Lee Clark after winning three of his four games in charge. This could be the potential banana skin in among the final ten games – Nil points.

March 18 – Chesterfield (h) – New manager Gary Caldwell has failed to have a similar impact to that which Clark has had at Bury. The match against Swindon on Saturday was Caldwell's first victory since taking over eight games ago. Their current situation looks perilous and it is unlikely to be improved at the Memorial Stadium. – Three points.

March 25 – Coventry (a) – The Premiership years are well and truly behind Coventry these days and they look destined to be playing in the League Two next season. They have appointed Mark Robins to replace Russell Slade, but that move looks to be a case of too little, too late. – Three points

April 1 – Shrewsbury Town (h) – Rovers will be seeking retribution for what was their worst performance of the season in the reverse fixture just before Christmas – but resilient and improving Shrewsbury could nick a point. – One point.

April 8 – AFC Wimbledon (a) – Rovers may have ended their five-month search for an away win at Oxford on Saturday – but this represents a tricky away day and it could end in a pointless endeavour – Nil points

April 14 – Gillingham (a) – Gillingham have won two of their last three games to ease relegation fears. Rovers should be capable of starting the Easter weekend with a point away from home – One point.

April 17 – Oldham Athletic (h) – Oldham have been struggling at the wrong end of the table for most of the season and will find points hard to come by at the Memorial Stadium. – Three points.

April 22 – Peterborough United (a) – Big-spending Peterborough are currently one point behind Rovers and will also be eyeing a late run for the play-offs. They have lost at home six times this season and Rovers could get a point here – One point.

April 30 – Millwall (h) – There is a good chance that this may be a dead rubber if Millwall have already booked a top six place and Rovers are simply playing out the final 90 minutes of the season. Should there be any other scenario it will be a game that is almost impossible to predict – One point.

We can see Rovers collecting another 15 or 16 points to surpass 63 to secure what would be the highest league finish in almost 20 years. They would still be some points short of the 73 or 74 required for a top six finish – but ending the season in the top ten would represent a satisfying campaign in the season after promotion.

well the evil post need something write about, apart from the love for the brown side of bristol, even if we make the playoffs , i wont give them any credit, can you imagine the clamour for clarke if we get 3 promotions back to back the world and it wife will want to sign him up.

the evil post is loathe to print anything positive about us, as we aren't part of the Bristol Sport's winning franchise, lets hope if we do get promoted then we get an open top bus tour this year ;-)

we are the gas, it our support and those hardy souls who make the away journey in numbers to support the team, its the 10,000 odd fans at each and every home game, its the players , the staff, the board who make rovers what we are, its the untold number of fans who can't make games for what ever reason that listen on the radio or gasplayer.

we are more than supporters, we are gasheads and it way of life, if we manage to sneak a trip to wembley again, it will be 40,000 fans invading wembley again life we did in the play off final.

i will sell my daughters and wife for a ticket if i have too :-) ( in actual fact, i will give the wife away for free lol)

So history tells us it will be a high total this year, and we are below par for where we need to be.

To be fair, that's how it feels too. I'd be delighted with a top 10 finish though.

Thanks GasMacc for the info, interesting to read and compare. We're just going to be a bit short of the points total needed I think. But its going to be an interesting last part of the season for us.
UTG!

I have never thought we could achieve a third successive promotion.
After two sucessive promotions, fifth bottom is far from easy.
But we're in the top ten, and well might we remain.
I just want us to remain and finish in the top ten.
But also for us to retain a chance of top six until the final game.
This would keep the season alive, and maintain >10,000 attendances.
And, just maybe, I could be proven a fool on the glorious final day.

I honestly think that even mid table is a fantastic result, even better if all the other teams that came up are behind us. I know OUFC have games in hand but I think we will stay above them. It is also good to see that we are looking at next season as well, getting Chris to sign on for at least another season is a good bit of business. I know it is a long shot but hopefully we can keep Lumley and Sweeny even if it is for a season loan.

Honestly think we have no worries about OUFC. Their manager may be the new manager south of the river in the summer if Kassam does not sell the stadium to the club and continues to block the 4th stand.

I stopped reading after 'Bury - Nil Points'.