Rovers travel to face Sky Bet League Two side Carlisle United in the Emirates FA Cup second round this weekend.
Darren Moore’s side travel to Brunton Park on the back of a 3-2 win over Blackpool in their last league outing.
First round results
Rovers beat non-league side FC United of Manchester earlier this month to seal their progression to the second round. Andy Butler was in temporary charge of the team with Darren Moore self-isolating.
Two goals from Josh Sims, along with strikes from Fejiri Okenabirhie, Ben Whiteman and James Coppinger secured a 5-1 win at Broadhurst Park.
Carlisle were also up against non-league opposition in Hayes & Yeading in the first round. With the scores level at 2-2 after 120 minutes of action, the Cumbrians won 4-3 on penalties.
The man in charge
Chris Beech replaced Steven Pressley as Carlisle head coach in November 2019. Since then, he has taken charge of 41 matches, winning 14, drawing 13 and losing 14, giving him an overall win percentage of 34.1%.
Ones to watch
Jon Mellish
The 23-year-old is capable of playing in either defence or midfield, and has been a key part of Carlisle’s good form so far this season. After coming through the system at non-league side Gateshead, Mellish made 58 appearances for his hometown club and was named as the National League’s young player of the year in the 2018/19 campaign. He joined the Cumbrians later that summer.
Dean Furman
The South African midfielder will be well known to Rovers fans after making 80 appearances for the club in a two-year spell. He was in the side that beat Brentford on the final day of the 2012/13 season to secure the Sky Bet League One title at Griffin Park. After leaving Rovers, Furman signed for SuperSport United in his native South Africa, and has since gone on to win plenty of silverware as well as being capped more than 50 times by his country. He signed for Carlisle on a one-year deal in the summer.
Joshua Kayode
The Irish forward impressed at Carlisle last season after arriving on loan from Sky Bet Championship side Rotherham United in January. He scored three goals in his first five matches for the club, and that persuaded head coach Chris Beech to bring him back to Brunton Park in the summer on a season-long loan deal from the Millers.
Last time out
Carlisle ran out 2-1 winners the last time the two sides met at Brunton Park in February 2017. Tommy Rowe grabbed a late consolation goal for Rovers but it wasn’t enough to get anything from the Sky Bet League Two fixture.
More ahead of this match
