With the Met Office promising good visibility, Oldham Athletic return to The innocent New Lawn this weekend for a second attempt at the fixture.
When the sides locked horns at the start of 2021, it wasn’t . the rapidly settling snow that brought the game to its early conclusion, but rather the thick fog that descended over the top of Spring Hill.
Here is all you need to know ahead of the game:
What we said:
“Oldham are a counter-attacking team,” said Head Coach Mark Cooper.
They’ve got some really good players at the top end of the pitch and they like to suck you in and hit you on the break.
“We have to be wary of that, but for us to win a game we have to out run and outfight the opposition.”
What they said:
“I presume now they'll still play in a similar way,” said Harry Kewell.
They'll be aggressive from the start and can play a number of different formations which they’re very effective at.
“We'll go down there with our mindset of scoring goals and focusing on our strengths. We know what we're good at and we're going to go there and give it a good go again.”
Team news:
Rovers have a clean bill of health for this one, having returned no positive Covid-19 tests in the latest round of testing.
Key Player: Dylan Bahamboula
The Congo international joined Oldham on a one-year deal in October of last year, for his first experience of English professional football.
Born in France and capped at U20 level, Bahamboula has had spells with both AS Monaco and Dijon in the top flight.
Known as 'Moyo', the six-foot skilful striker can also operate in midfield and received his senior debut for the Republic of Congo at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification stage in June 2017.
Last time we met (for a full game):
A late strike from George Williams poured cold water on Oldham Athletic as Rovers salvaged a point in the grips of Storm Dennis.
Facing the side he suffered his leg break against on the opening game of the season, the Welshman scored with a minute of normal time remaining to cancel out Gevaro Nepomuceno’s earlier goal.
Head-to-head:
The history books suggest this fixture favours a draw, with three of the four meetings ending all square, including last month’s abandoned game in Nailsworth.
Rovers came out on top in the other clash, thanks to Taylor Allen’s debut strike.
Goals also seem hard to come by, with neither side able to score more than one against the other.
Coverage:
This game will be available to watch live by subscribing HERE, or you can listen to the game with our audio service HERE, both abroad or in the UK.
Please contact fgrtv@streamamg.com if you have any issues with your FGR Live account.
Full commentary of Saturday’s match will also be available on BBC Radio Gloucestershire on 1413AM.
Stay up to date also on Twitter and Instagram by following @FGRFC_Official, which will have all of the team news before kick-off and updates throughout the game.
There will also be key updates and team news on Facebook. Round-up the clash by checking out the club website where there will be a full report looking back on the encounter.
Match sponsor: Tetbury Audi
Match ball sponsor: Energy and Legal
