Rovers take on Crewe Alexandra in Sky Bet League Two this weekend.
Danny Schofield’s side looking for their first win since beating AFC Wimbledon
The last meeting:
The last time the two sides met was Schofield’s first league game in charge of Rovers back on October 22.
Rovers picked up a point at the Mornflake Stadium despite falling behind to Courtney Baker-Richardson’s header 14 minutes in.
George Miller had a great chance to equalise just before half-time after Baker-Richardson handled in the area, but the No.9 saw his penalty saved by Arthur Okonkwo .
Miller made up for that miss though by securing Rovers a point 13 minutes from the end. He raced onto a through ball from Harrison Biggins, before lifting it over Okonkwo and into the back of the net.
Crewe’s recent form:
The Railwaymen have won one of their previous six league outings, stretching back to a 1-1 draw at home to Rochdale at the end of February.
They started March with another draw, this time on the road at Sutton United. Their last victory came against play-off chasing Salford City, coming out on top of a seven-goal thriller on home soil on March 10.
They have found results harder to come by since then, losing by a 1-0 scoreline at Stevenage and Northampton, before being beaten at Gillingham in their last league outing.
Key men:
Captain Luke Offord is a one club man having established himself as a first-team regular following his debut against Leyton Orient in January 2020.
Offord played nine times towards the back end of that season and followed it up with 30 games a campaign later. His first goal for Crewe came in a 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic at the Mornflake Stadium in October 2020.
Still only 23, he has now made 124 appearances for the Railwaymen, including 37 this term.
Powerful forward Dan Agyei joined Crewe in January 2022 from Oxford United for an undisclosed fee. Born in London, Agyei started joined Burnley from AFC Wimbledon as a teenager, and would go onto make three substitute appearances for the Clarets’ first team.
He spent time out on loan at Coventry City, Walsall and Blackpool, before signing for Oxford in the summer of 2019. In two-and-a-half years at the Kassam Stadium, the 25-year-old played almost 100 times, with the majority of those appearances coming off the bench.
Agyei is enjoying his first full season with Crewe, and is the club’s top scorer having found the back of the net on 12 occasions. Six of those strikes have come since the turn of the year.
Striker Courtney Baker-Richardson signed for Crewe last summer from fellow Sky Bet League Two side Newport County.
Last season was a breakthrough campaign for the 26-year-old, who scored eight goals for the Exiles in 25 league starts.
The former Swansea and Barnet man settled in well to his new surroundings, with eight goals in the first half of the campaign, including one against Rovers in the reverse fixture.
Injury kept Baker-Richardson out from October until March, but he has returned to the side in recent weeks, with one start in that period.