17:00, 06 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754858151_537_0_unnamed-1-1.jpg\")
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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.
\nHe 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.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS380053613.jpg\")
Bristol Rovers players and fans celebrate Luke Thomas’ goal against Newport County(Image: James Marsh\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
Despite the season being just five weeks old, it feels as though Bristol Rovers have already crammed a fair bit into the opening month-and-a-bit of the new campaign.<\/p>\n
A poor start with four defeats in a row, on the back of last season’s relegation, saw the mood drop even lower. Three weeks on from that Chesterfield defeat though and things are suddenly looking far more rosy.<\/p>\n
A 3-2 win away at Newport County on Saturday afternoon made it three wins in a row in League Two while the Gas are unbeaten in five if you include a goalless stalemate against Oldham Athletic in the league and a bonkers 4-4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.<\/p>\n
After a flat, forgettable first half, Rovers sprung into life when good work from debutant Alfie Chang created a goalmouth scramble that saw Fabrizio Cavegn hit the woodwork and force a save before Luke Thomas bundled the ball over the line.<\/p>\n
The winger then netted a second when picking up a poor pass from the Newport goalkeeper before finishing past him clinically.<\/p>\n
Substitute Ellis Harrison added a third off the bench, heading in a delightful cross from Chang, whom he played with at Walsall last season. A late double from the hosts made the conclusion more nervy than necessary.<\/p>\n
Once again, it was another satisfying victory with positivity around the club reinstalled. Here are some of the stand out talking points…<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Darrell Clarke takes accountability after late frenzy in Bristol Rovers’ ‘fantastic’ Newport win<\/a>READ MORE: Newport County 2-3 Bristol Rovers recap: Gas secure third straight victory in League Two<\/a>Another milestone ticked off<\/p>\n In this recent run, Bristol Rovers have ticked off individual milestones. First win, first away win, three league clean sheets in a row for well over three years – now, they’ve made it three consecutive victories for the first time since October 2022.<\/p>\n On the whole, 10 points from a possible 21 isn’t the most inspiring of starts, but when you zoom in on the last four, 10 points from 12 is far more encouraging and proves that Rovers are very much on an upward trajectory now.<\/p>\n There are also plenty of encouraging signs to suggest that the Gas will go on and extend that winning run further with a home game against Barrow next up next weekend.<\/p>\n Asked about the winning streak, Darrell Clarke said to Bristol Live<\/a>: “It’s important. Those stats are important, aren’t they? Because that goes to show we’re doing something right at the minute. But let’s not paper over the work we’ve got to be doing.<\/p>\n “It’s a really good, tough league. We’ve had a good few weeks now, five unbeaten now. We’ve just got to build a platform for that. Barrow’s going to be a really tough game next week and we’ll fill up the Mem and see if we can get another win.”<\/p>\n In all of his post-match interviews, Darrell Clarke was quick to make the point that he took full accountability for the late frenzy that saw Newport score two late goals to make it a nervier ending than needed for Bristol Rovers.<\/p>\n Ruel Sotiriou, Joel Senior and Clinton Mola were the players who came on late in the second half as Rovers switched to a back-three, looking to see the game out.<\/p>\n Rovers’ momentum was disrupted and they lost control of the game which, after the third goal, looked as though it could end up being a proper thumping with Newport players at sea.<\/p>\n The changes were also a reflection of where the squad is at a bit at the moment. An injury to Ryan Howley has left the Gas short in midfield but Clarke still didn’t want to take a risk with Alfie Chang given his late arrival at the club. Sotiriou also wasn’t 100 per cent fit after his issue picked up at Grimsby Town last weekend. They got through though.<\/p>\n Strikers are ultimately judged on goals, but for those who have actually watched the games Fabrizio Cavegn has played in in recent weeks, they’ll know that the first goal in the league is coming for the Swiss.<\/p>\n In the first half he looked slightly isolated in what was 45 minutes of limited quality from either team. After the break though he was alert and hit the post and forced a save within quick succession. The 23-year-old also had a good chance that went narrowly wide.<\/p>\n Still only a month into his huge move abroad, Cavegn is rightly being allowed plenty of patience. He already has two to his name in the EFL Trophy, but once that first one in League Two hits the back of the net, you get the sense that he won’t look back.<\/p>\n Bristol Rovers are preparing for a new season in League Two with Darrell Clarke back at the helm and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.<\/p>\n All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Gas, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Midfield maestros<\/p>\n Although short of options in support, Bristol Rovers’ midfield trio of Josh McEachran, Kamil Conteh and Alfie Chang was a delight to watch.<\/p>\n McEachran has been one of Rovers’ most consistent performers of late and does the hard work that doesn’t necessarily get the credit it deserves. Just a very, very good footballer.<\/p>\n As for Conteh, these past couple of games the midfielder has looked far more like himself and seemed to cover every blade of grass against Newport. It was a big deal for the Gas to keep hold of the 22-year-old, and Saturday showed why.<\/p>\n Then finally Chang – what a debut. Perhaps the 23-year-old deadline day arrival hasn’t done himself many favours by setting his bar that high, but he looked as though he had been knocking the ball about in this Rovers team for years.<\/p>\n Composed on the ball and positive in possession, there was so much to like about the way Chang went about his business in a role that was probably slightly more advanced than what he is used to.<\/p>\n Having played in League Two for Walsall last season as well as training well in the week, Darrell Clarke made the decision to throw the Birmingham City loanee straight in and was delighted with the outcome.<\/p>\n “You can see what he’s going to give us,” the Rovers head coach said on Chang. “He’s going to give us that box-to-box energy. He gets up and down the pitch. He’s really smooth in possession of the ball. That’s why I brought him to the football club, so really pleased with his debut.”<\/p>\n Join Bristol Rovers Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol Rovers stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Rovers Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol Rovers news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n Still plenty of room for improvement<\/p>\n It is important to enjoy the good times, but everyone associated with Bristol Rovers will know that Darrell Clarke won’t be getting carried away seven games into the League Two season.<\/p>\n A couple of weeks ago, assistant head coach Jon Stead said that the group was at 75 per cent still, giving an indication of how much more there might yet be to come from this group. Three wins later, that percentage is surely bigger – but it isn’t yet at full capacity.<\/p>\n That’s what makes things particularly exciting; there is still much more to come from this group. Their first half was flat and they didn’t need to make the game as nervy as it was at the end. But they’re all minor points; let’s enjoy the win.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol Rovers player ratings vs Newport: Thomas nets brace and Chang stars on debut in win<\/a>READ MORE: Alfie Kilgour on ‘awesome’ Bristol Rovers return and enjoying life back in the West Country<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The talking points after Bristol Rovers’ 3-2 win away at Newport County on Saturday afternoon Daniel Hargraves Bristol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,10648,2707,748,46615,393,4884,89503,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-403609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-live","10":"tag-bristol-rovers-fc","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-darrell-clarke","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-josh-mceachran","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115159475563763096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS380060195.jpg\")
Goalscorer Luke Thomas celebrates with Bristol Rovers fans after their victory at Newport County(Image: James Marsh\/Shutterstock)Substitutions don’t work in the end<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS380057385.jpg\")
Alfie Chang was one of the Bristol Rovers players who came off after a fantastic debut(Image: James Marsh\/Shutterstock)It’s coming for Cavegn<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250513_DCSigns_WC063-copy.jpg\")
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