Rovers travel to Sutton United this weekend looking to make it four straight wins in Sky Bet League Two.
Danny Schofield’s side beat Barrow 1-0 last time out thanks to James Maxwell’s second goal of the season at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Sutton sit one place and two points behind Rovers in the table, with both teams pushing to close the gap on the play-off places.
The last meeting
Rovers scored two stoppage time goals to pick up their first win of the season against Sutton in August.
Donovan Wilson gave the U’s the lead 16 minutes in, and that looked like being enough to earn all three points before George Miller headed home an equaliser late on. Kieran Agard then slotted home a dramatic winner after getting on the end of Miller’s knockdown to score his first goal for the club and turn the game on its head.
Sutton’s recent form
Matt Gray’s side have won two of their previous six league outings, stretching back to a 2-2 draw at Tranmere Rovers on January 7. They were then beaten 2-0 on the road at Salford City, before ending the opening month of the year on a positive note with a 1-0 win at Harrogate Town.
Sutton began February with back-to-back draws against promotion chasing Stevenage and relegation threatened Hartlepool United respectively, before coming from behind to beat Swindon Town in their last league game on Tuesday night.
Key men
Midfielder Will Randall joined Sutton in the summer of 2019 from Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Having come through the ranks at Swindon Town, Randall moved to the Wolves Academy in 2016. He spent the majority of his time at Molineux out on loan, spending time at Walsall, Forest Green and Newport County.
Randall has found a home for himself in the capital, and is Sutton’s top scorer so far this season with six goals from the middle of the park. His most recent strike came at home to AFC Wimbledon on New Year’s Day.
Alistair Smith
A midfielder with an eye for goal, Smith joined Sutton on a permanent deal from Mansfield in the summer of 2021 after making a handful of league appearances for the Stags.
It was a season with Altrincham which caught Matt Gray’s eye, as the 23-year-old played 30 times to build on his experience in men’s football.
Smith had a solid first season with the U’s, chipping in with nine goals from midfield as Sutton missed out on the Sky Bet League Two play-offs by just one point.
He hasn’t been quite as prolific this time around, but does have three league goals to his name, all of which have come since the turn of the year. He scored a late winner against Swindon Town on Tuesday night.
Omar Bugiel
The experienced front man had his first taste of English football with Forest Green Rovers in 2017. An impressive move to Bromley led to a permanent move to the Non League side, where he would spend just one season before signing for Sutton in 2019.
In more than three years with the club, the 29-year-old has played almost 150 times and established himself as a key part of Matt Gray’s forward line.
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