Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury preview: Shrews looking to plunder more points at the Pirates

Salop fell to a 3-0 loss when promotion hopefuls Ipswich visited Montgomery Waters Meadow last weekend.

And in midweek, they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.

Shrews have had a tough run of fixtures which saw them play three promotion contenders and a Championship side in 10 days.

The four points they got during those tough fixtures is perhaps a good return, and one Steve Cotterill will be pleased with.

On their travels, Town have got four points on the road this season, and they are unbeaten after a win at Wycombe and a draw at Morecambe.

Steve Cotterill will be hoping to keep that record up when they take on recently-promoted side Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

And the boss believes his side needs to show more composure on the ball when they regain possession.

He said: “When we work hard, and we press the ball and get it back we have got to be better on turnover.

“And get our composure pass off quicker.

“I speak to the lads about it a lot and we will do that in certain sessions.

“And for me, we win the ball a lot in games, but then when we win it we don’t keep it enough.

“So that is what I mean by turnover.

“We know we have got to be better with that.

“That takes time to get into the pressing points on the pitch, who wins it and then who do they give it to.

“What happens is when you run around and you are pressing the game is 100 miles an hour for you.

So when you win it sometimes you don’t want to be a hundred miles an hour.

“So I have a saying of ‘play what you see when you see it’ because if I win it quickly after running around and play it to someone else, they are more composed than me.”

Town made four changes to the starting eleven in midweek in order to keep players as fresh as possible for this fixture.

The players have had a gruelling fixture list over the last few weeks.

Meanwhile, the hosts’ Bristol Rovers will hope manager Joey Barton being linked with the vacant Stoke City job will not upset their preparations for the game.

The 39-year-old has been tipped as one of the early favourites to replace Michael O’Neill after he was sacked by Stoke this week.

The Pirates were promoted last season after their remarkable 7-0 win on the final day of the season which saw them gain automatic promotion on goals scored.

They have had a mixed start to the season beating Burton and Oxford but losing to Forest Green, Barnsley and Portsmouth.