Soccer >>> England League One: Bristol Rovers DNB +140 at Southend.
Bristol Rovers have been handed a huge boost ahead of their trip to Southend United with their opponents in the midst of an injury crisis.
Southend will be missing as many as 12 players in what is a crucial match for Rovers, who are languishing in the League One relegation zone.
Currently 23rd, a victory in Essex could be enough to haul Bristol Rovers to safety - for the time being at least.
Southend are slap-bang in the middle of the table, and they have been the definition of inconsistent. Since November 24, their form in League One reads L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L.
That extraordinary statistic would suggest they will beat Bristol Rovers tomorrow, but their lengthy list of absentees will not help them.
Defenders Jason Demetriou, Rob Kiernan and Harry Lennon have returned to training but will not be ready to face the Gas on Saturday.
Midfielder Luke Hyam, left-back Stephen Hendrie and winger Harry Bunn are also all out, along with goalkeeper Mark Oxley and long-term absentees Ben Coker, Tom Hopper, Sam Barratt, Lewis Gard and Harry Kyprianou, the Echo reports.
Southend boss Chris Powell said: “I very much doubt our squad will be any different to last week.
“We have one or two lads joining in with the start of training in Jason Demetriou, Harry Lennon and Rob Kiernan but it’s very light.
“They’ll do 10 or 15 minutes to be among the group but they’re still some way off and we can’t rush them.”
Southend will be missing as many as 12 players in what is a crucial match for Rovers, who are languishing in the League One relegation zone.
Currently 23rd, a victory in Essex could be enough to haul Bristol Rovers to safety - for the time being at least.
Southend are slap-bang in the middle of the table, and they have been the definition of inconsistent. Since November 24, their form in League One reads L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L.
That extraordinary statistic would suggest they will beat Bristol Rovers tomorrow, but their lengthy list of absentees will not help them.
Defenders Jason Demetriou, Rob Kiernan and Harry Lennon have returned to training but will not be ready to face the Gas on Saturday.
Midfielder Luke Hyam, left-back Stephen Hendrie and winger Harry Bunn are also all out, along with goalkeeper Mark Oxley and long-term absentees Ben Coker, Tom Hopper, Sam Barratt, Lewis Gard and Harry Kyprianou, the Echo reports.
Southend boss Chris Powell said: “I very much doubt our squad will be any different to last week.
“We have one or two lads joining in with the start of training in Jason Demetriou, Harry Lennon and Rob Kiernan but it’s very light.
“They’ll do 10 or 15 minutes to be among the group but they’re still some way off and we can’t rush them.”
