Bring on the Oxford...

I'm really quite excited this Friday evening ahead of our away game at Oxford United tomorrow - it should be a cracker.

With over one thousand Rovers supporters having bought their tickets for the game already, we should see an away following that well surpasses 1500. It's been designated by some Rovers fans as a a 'Gas on Tour' day, where as many Gasheads as possible are encouraged to make the relatively short journey to the Kassam Stadium, to give the lads as much support as possible. Oxford supporters are running a similar initiative, attempting to get as many home fans in to the ground as possible. This should make for a superb atmosphere inside the ground, despite the Kassam's lack of a fourth stand. One thing's for sure, the away end will be buzzing.

One thing I'm not so certain about is how we'll perform on the pitch. Oxford are a good side and I'm slightly surprised they aren't higher up the league than their position currently shows. They haven't been particularly sharp at home, similar to ourselves, but that's sure to end tomorrow, as those types of runs always come to an end against Rovers!

We're blighted by injuries at the moment and unfortunately for us, a few key players are missing. Danny Woodards will be a big miss at right back, captain Matt Gill and Wayne Brown's absences weakens our central midfield, whilst the loss of Scott McGleish is a blow to our attacking options. But, gaffer Paul Buckle has gone some way to addressing that situation by bringing a loan signing in to the club.

Wycombe forward Scott Rendell has joined on a one-month loan deal, linking up with Buckle for the second time following a productive loan period whilst at Torquay a few seasons ago. He was one of many players we were linked with having made a bid for over the summer, so it's not much of a surprise to see Bucks bring him in when the opportunity arose. He's relatively quick for a 6ft forward and has a decent strike on him, although, unfortunately, he's not the most clinical of strikers at this level.

I'm not sure whether he'll start tomorrow afternoon, but here's hoping for a debut goal at some point for Scott! Hopefully we can give him a nice, warm Gas welcome before kick-off.

I'm not majorly confident that we can win tomorrow, as I always fear we'll concede goals - note the plural there! - with our back-line being so inconsistent. I'm hopeful we can put in a great performance and come away with a really decent 3 points, but this is Rovers, so it would be absolutely typical that we lose this after all the hype that's surrounded the game.

We'll need our forwards to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow and our defence to stand firm to their attackers if we want to win the game. I think we have to concede they will be stronger than us in the middle of the park with the likes of Peter Leven, which means we'll need to be extra strong in both the defensive and offensive thirds if we're to come away with the 3 points. With the magnificent away support we'll provide tomorrow from 2.45pm onwards, it's down to the players to do the business on the field by claiming a victory.

We're the blue and white army. See you tomorrow Gasheads!