BRISTOL ROVERS vs AFC WIMBLEDON -- 20/21 LEAGUE ONE - 13th MARCH 2021

Saturday 13th March 2021 3:00pm

AFC Wimbledon will travel away to Bristol's Memorial Ground for this latest match in League One. With no prospect of any fans being allowed in to watch during the latest Government national lockdown we won't be making any plans for a road trip down the M4 this weekend. On the plus side though over 22 million vaccines have been given out (including myself) via the NHS. Maybe this is our route back to some sort of 'normality' although the Government plans looks to restrict fans and I doubt we'll see a game this season with fans not due back till May and some 'test' events to be organised first at our Plough Lane home. The Dons played a poor game midweek losing 0-1 against Burton Albion, while Bristol Rovers also had a midweek game at home against Accrington Stanley where they won 4-1. A win this afternoon for the Dons could potentially get us out of the bottom four relegation places and possibly bring us closer to our opponents too in the relegation battle. It's beginning to look like any four from seven with a gap opening up to the teams above. Teams are in, no Walker in goal for the Dons, Nik Tzanev instead, Longman benched, with Rudoni support Joe Pigott up front. 

Onto today's game itself this Saturday in League One and our opponents today, Bristol Rovers are towards the bottom end of the table so would be a good victory for either side. A key win against them would be appreciated. Rovers are now lead by Joey Barton who recently replaced Paul Tisdale last month. After Rovers emphatic win 4-1 against Accrington on Tuesday they sit in 19th place in League One with 33 points. .

Most Recent League Games [Tuesday night]
AFC Wimbledon 0 - 1 Burton Albion

Bristol Rovers 4 - 1 Accrington Stanley

Head to Head
Our head to head form against Bristol Rovers is pretty bad since we returned to the league in 2011, played 18 times and successful on only 5 occasions, including January's football league trophy tie. Losing 10 games in the league, and there have been 3 draws. We need a league win today.

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 11/5 [William Hill]

Tzanev (Gk),  Alexander,  🟨Johnson,  Nightingale,  🟨Guinness-Walker,  🟨Woodyard (c),  Dobson,  McLoughlin,  Reilly,  Rudoni,  🟨Pigott

SUBS - Cox (Gk), O'Neill,  Palmer,  Oksanen,  Assal,  Cox,  Heneghan,  Longman

BRISTOL ROVERS

Win Odds - 6/5 [William Hill]
Day (Gk),  Williams,  Kilgour,  Baldwin,  Rodman,  🟨Upson,  McCormick,  Leahy (c),  Westbrooke,  Nicholson,  Ayunga

SUBS - van Stappershoef (Gk),  Ehmer,  Hanlan,  🟨Daly,  Hargreaves,  Walker,  Martinez

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @15/8.
• Joe Pigott to score first @5/1.
• AFC Wimbledon to lead at H/T @27/10.
• Over 3.5 goals in match @5/2.

⚽Half Time Score - 0 - 0

First Half Comments;

Kick off at the Memorial stadium on a sunny but windy afternoon in Bristol (no surprise there), the home side get us underway, and they win the first corner in the opening minute but thankfully comes to nothing. The opening ten minutes pass by without much ado, the Dons do even up the corner count though. First shot on target comes from the visitors as a Joe Pigott shot is saved by Rovers keeper Joe Day (ex Wimbledon loanee) couple of early bookings too for the Dons, Nesta Guinness-Walker and Darnell Johnson both go into the referee's notebook, Ed Upson joins them not long after for Rovers and that's about all there is to say for the first half. Dons currently bottom of League One as it stands with Rochdale winning. Sad.

⚽Full Time Score - 0 - 0

Match Summary;
Well not much to say here, rock bottom of the league now, looks like a mini league of 4 from 6 to get out of trouble, yes they passed it about nicely, yes the clean sheet was a positive but we don't score goals so sadly looking like a relegation season ... won't give up but need something from Wigan on Tuesday night. 

My Man of the Match - Nik Tzanev.

Attendance - Sadly still no one for the time being. Maybe sometime later this year would be nice, after all we've a new stadium to celebrate in 2021. Looks like test events being planned for May, so nothing this season.

Today's Referee - Our referee this afternoon is Samuel Barrott who is in only his second season as a professional league official, has taken charge of one AFC Wimbledon game before (1-1 draw vs Burton). Will be assisted by both Robert Dabbs and Michael Begley on the side-lines while our fourth official will be Sam Allison.

Dons next league match:
Tuesday 16th March vs Wigan Athletic (Home)
League One Kick off 6:30pm