All of the stand out talking points as Bristol Rovers were forced to settle for a point at home to Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night
Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter
09:08, 20 Aug 2025
Dan Hargraves
Dan Hargraves is the Bristol Rovers reporter for Bristol Live. He joined the title in July 2023 having previously worked for Reach PLC as a freelance football writer in April 2022 while a journalism student at the University of Derby. He has also reported on a number of football matches across European competition, the Premier League and EFL and covered the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. In his role as covering the Gas, he wants to leave no stone unturned and cover every angle of the football club for Gasheads' enjoyment.
Bristol Rovers and Oldham Athletic played out a goalless draw on Tuesday night(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
Although not the first win of the season they craved, Bristol Rovers took a step in the right direction on Tuesday night with a battling performance in a goalless draw at home to Oldham Athletic.
After a pretty even first half, Rovers controlled the majority of the second, as the likes of Macauley Southam-Hales, Alfie Kilgour, Isaac Hutchinson and Jack Sparkes were amongst the players to have good chances to score.
Having started the League Two season poorly with three defeats from three as well as an 2-0 loss to Cambridge United in the Carabao Cup, it was a first point on the board for Darrell Clarke’s side and they looked a lot closer to what you would expect a Rovers team managed by Clarke to look like.
Assistant head coach Jon Stead, who was on press duty after the game, explained that the group are still at 75 per cent in terms of fitness and energy and will become a really good team once they have found that final quarter of tank capacity.
Admittedly, it’s a result that looks pretty underwhelming on paper, but on another night the Pirates would have won that comfortably. They just need that final bit of confidence, quality and, in some cases, luck to put chances away.
Here are some of the stand out talking points after the stalemate…
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READ MORE: Bristol Rovers 0-0 Oldham Athletic recap: Gas frustrated after being forced to settle for pointREAD MORE: 'We're getting there' - Jon Stead on Bristol Rovers 'process' as Gas get first point on board
Fans get what they’ve been crying out 'four'
After playing the majority of pre-season and the start of the campaign with a back-three, Bristol Rovers fans have been calling out for a change in shape in defence from the start.
Darrell Clarke has changed it mid-game a couple of times when Rovers have been behind, but made the call to start with Kacper Lopata and Alfie Kilgour as the two central defenders with Clinton Mola missing due to a knock.
There is certainly a case to be made that the Gas’ best performance of the season came partly as a result of taking a man out of the backline, but it seems as though throughout recent history Rovers and a back-three have just never worked together, regardless of who’s been in charge and the players at the club.
Clarke has insisted that he will be flexible and adaptable, but I’m sure the four will now get its moment.
Right-back selection headache
Joel Senior was very unlucky to find himself suspended for Tuesday night after the poor decision to send him off at Chesterfield three days prior. However, Macauley Southam-Hales was an excellent option to have in reserve and now, after a eye-catching display, there is a real selection headache at right-back.
Senior was one of the star performers in pre-season having had a disjointed and disrupted first campaign for the Gas last term, while Southam-Hales was being built-up through the Pirates’ preparations for the new campaign; this was also his first league start.
However, the 29-year-old was constantly up and down the flank, making an impact in both boxes, and once Senior returns from suspension, Darrell Clarke is going to have a real head scratcher.
Macauley Southam-Hales pictured in action for Bristol Rovers against Oldham Athletic(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
When asked about competition at right-back, Jon Stead didn’t want to focus too much on one particular area of the pitch, telling Bristol Live: “I think we’ve got a couple of bodies in every position now. I don’t think we’re far off at all. We still need to do a little bit of work.
“Macca’s having to build up his endurance and had a couple of little niggles in pre-season. Joel’s been fantastic and he’s kind of staked his claim for that shirt, but when you get Macca on the pitch and he’s doing the things that we all know he can do, that’s what we need. We need battles for places all over the pitch. I thought it was a really good performance from Macca tonight.”
More trial and error for the strike partnership
In terms of numbers, Bristol Rovers have a healthy number of forwards to pick from now, but partnerships and best combinations are still up in the air at this stage.
Against Oldham, all of Promise Omochere, Fabrizio Cavegn and Ruel Sotiriou were on the pitch from the start with Omochere playing out wide, a role that seems to suit the Irishman far more than being the frontman. Ellis Harrison then came on, as did Luke Thomas out wide.
It will come for Cavegn, who Stead declared post-match will be “a really big player” for the Gas this season, while Sotiriou was unfortunate not to score in the first half while Omochere had an effort blocked late on.
There’s still some trial and error to be done until Darrell Clarke decides which combination is most effective, but it will start to become clearer once goals start going in.
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Kamil Conteh and Josh McEachran’s best game together
Having both started all four league games now, you get the sense that the Kamil Conteh/Josh McEachran partnership is going to be particularly important for Bristol Rovers. Not that either have necessarily been poor so far, but both had their best performances of the season on Tuesday night.
Since his arrival in January 2024, we’ve become accustomed to seeing Conteh sit deep and, at times, drop into the defence when Rovers have been attacking. Against Oldham though, he was given a bit more licence to roam alongside Ryan Howley with McEachran cleaning up behind.
The 32-year-old’s technical ability has been there for all to see since the start of pre-season, but sometimes clean link up play hasn’t. He was excellent on Tuesday night though having also had a good game at Chesterfield three days prior.
21-year-old Howley also deserves a mention, who has come in for three consecutive starts now and done well, particularly in the league games in his preferred midfield role.
Jon Stead was asked about the midfield post-match and admitted that, really, all three are naturally sixes.
Josh McEachran pictured in action for Bristol Rovers(Image: Geraint Nicholas/PPAUK)
“I felt like, with the four at times and the way that they’re in that 4-4-2, there’s opportunity to find your six on the ball,” he explained to Bristol Live. “Could have done it better at times, but I think at times we did it really well. I think, just getting the understanding between, really we’ve got three sixes in there. Ryan is a six, and Kam is a different type of six if we’re talking about them and their perfect positions.
“They’re finding a way to gel and work together, which was good tonight; it worked. That’s why we picked those three and the system because we felt there was an opportunity to get Josh on the ball, keep their sixes at home, and with that work the ball higher up the pitch with a bit more control because it’s something we haven’t had this season.”
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Fans back on side as that first win draws closer
Exactly one week before Tuesday night’s stalemate, Gasheads were booing from the stands and Darrell Clarke spoke to his players on the pitch in front of the Thatcher’s End after a feeble performance against Cambridge United in the Carabao Cup. This time, the atmosphere was, at times, electric as supporters recognised the vastly improved quality on show, as well as a real grit and determination that possibly hasn’t been there in such quantity in other games this season.
Even on Saturday, travelling supporters clapped their players off of the pitch after a 3-1 defeat at Chesterfield following a better display.
It does feel as though the cogs are starting to turn in the right direction, albeit more slowly than anyone associated with the club would like, but that first win doesn’t feel far away now.
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Victory on Saturday against Cambridge in a repeat of last week’s cup game would make it a productive week at home and really lay solid foundations to kick on going into the end of August and September.
READ MORE: Bristol Rovers player ratings vs Oldham: Gas solid at the back and unlucky up top in stalemateREAD MORE: Isaac Hutchinson calls for unity from all fronts as Bristol Rovers look to kickstart new season