Shrews manager Taylor outlines potential weaknesses in his team that Rovers could exploit this weekend.
Following a fortnight off, Bristol Rovers will play in League One on Saturday when they travel to Shrewsbury Town.
Bristol Rovers may be in luck on Saturday because they play Shrewsbury Town, a team that, according to Matt Taylor, needs to work on defending set pieces while Rovers have had success attacking from them so far this season.
After a fictitious international break, both teams will not play in league games for two weeks.
The Gas will return to action this weekend when they travel to the Croud Meadow Stadium.
As a result of calls to duty for members of the Royals squad, Rovers’ trip to Reading was postponed while the Salops were scheduled to host Bolton Wanderers.
The Gas are looking for their second league victory of the season, and they may be in luck on Saturday because Shrewsbury manager and Joey Barton’s former Burnley teammate Taylor highlighted before the break that his team must improve defending set pieces after conceding right from a corner in their 2-0 loss to Carlisle United a fortnight ago.
Josh Grant scored the equalizer for Rovers against Lincoln City right off a corner kick, and Aaron Collins was quick to react when Antony Evan’s free kick at Charlton Athletic hit the woodwork, setting up Scott Sinclair for a simple tap-in.
Despite having nine points so far, the Salops enter the game having lost their previous two games in a row in all competitions and going the exact same amount of time without playing after the 2-0 loss at Carlisle and the 3-0 loss at Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Trophy.
In contrast to Rovers’ lineup against Cheltenham, Shrewsbury’s team for the match against Forest Green was significantly altered.
This presents a potential weakness for the Gas to exploit.
Taylor acknowledged: “We lost the game in set plays,” following the defeat in Cumbria. We fail to perform our duties to a sufficient level, and especially at this level—well, at every level of football, set plays are incredibly crucial—we concede a goal that costs us the game and nearly defeat ourselves.
In terms of set plays and the effects they have on games, I believe this league to be very large.
Therefore, we must do better.
“.
It has previously shown to be a problem for Rovers, with the club giving up 20 goals from set pieces last season, which was the second-worst total in League One.
The Gas CEO has made great efforts to stop that particular bad habit, though, and he has a largely new defense at his disposal.
Taylor, however, also outlined potential problems his team could create for Rovers on Saturday, saying: “Now it’s a case of using the time we have between now and Bristol Rovers to make sure that when we do play Bristol Rovers, when we have opportunities to cross, we cross, when we have opportunities to shoot or to bounce, that we make better decisions as a group.
“.
Similarities can be drawn between the two teams in that both have largely new squads to work with.
The Salop signed 14 players over the course of the summer, while the Gas added 12.
Additionally, they have both gone for extended periods of time without playing, providing the chance to spend more time on the practice field.
Prior to the intermission, Taylor had stated that he would have his team on the practice field following the Forest Green loss, saying: “Our job as coaches is to reinforce the message every day and the key messages we’re giving them.
In the next six to eight training days, we should be able to work with the players in a really productive manner.
It’s going to be difficult.
Over the weekend, they’ll be here.
“We need to make the most of our time on the practice field so that we can perform at our peak against Bristol Rovers in our upcoming match.
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