Crawley Town v Bristol Rovers: Reds look to get their season going in Carabao Cup clash

Crawley Town haven’t had the best start to the season so a cup game might be exactly what they need to get their campaign going.
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They face a side in the league above in Bristol Rovers, but the sides faced each other in League Two last season.

Rovers’ emphatic 7-0 victory on the final day of last season earned them promotion to League One, where they have made a decent start.

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The Gas were defeated on the opening day by Forest Green Rovers but picked up an impressive 4-0 win at Burton Albion last weekend. Four first half goals sealed all three points for Joey Barton’s charges.

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton. Picture by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesBristol Rovers manager Joey Barton. Picture by Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton. Picture by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Bristol Rovers have won the previous four meetings between the sides, with Rovers unbeaten against the Reds since 2015.

Crawley are looking for their first positive result of the campaign. Back-to-back 1-0 defeats have given them the worst possible start to the season.

Kevin Betsy’s men have racked up just one shot on target in their opening two games with that coming in the 94th minute of their second game of the season.

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The Reds simply haven’t been good enough going forward. They haven’t created enough chances to warrant them winning a game.

They’ll struggle against their opponents from a higher division but it may invite the freedom they need to get not only their first positive result, but also their first goal of the campaign.

Betsy’s side need to gain some sort of confidence and quickly. An early exit in the Carabao Cup might not matter too much but any further defeats in the league could start to become damaging.