Injury-hit Rovers lack the finishing touch needed to secure win at Wigan
BRISTOL Rovers sorely missed their top scorer Brandon Hanlan as they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Wigan Athletic.
Rovers undoubtedly had the better of the game against an albeit poor Wigan side at the DW Stadium, but without their No 9 the Gas could not create the chances they needed to take three points.
Paul Tisdale’s Gas remain in the bottom four on goal difference, while Wigan drop to the bottom of the table.
Hanlan missed the trip to the North West with an ankle injury, and with James Daly (concussion) and Jonah Ayunga (hamstring) also ruled out, the Gas were forced to play winger Sam Nicholson as a makeshift striker.
The 25-year-old played well in the circumstances, but should have won it for Rovers with a gilt-edged chance in the first half, which was cleared off the line.
There was a nervous moment for Rovers inside five minutes as Tom Pearce’s overhit cross from the left flank bamboozled Anssi Jaakkola, who watched the ball sail over his head and bounce just wide of the far post.
Pearce whipped in another teasing cross moments later, and this time it was perfectly weighted but Thelo Aasgaard could not get a touch with Max Ehmer and Jaakkola taken out of the game.
Rovers spurned a golden chance to go ahead on 14 minutes, as Ehmer clipped an inch-perfect ball over the top for Nicholson. The Scotsman took it in his stride, rounded goalkeeper Jamie Jones but the ball got stuck under his feet and his dragged shot was cleared off the line by a covering defender. Ali Koiki tried to bundle the loose ball into the net, but the Latics defenders bundled it clear after a scramble fitting of a 1990s football gaffes VHS.
Wigan forced several corners, but it was Rovers creating the more promising openings. What they lacked in physicality without the injured Hanlan, Rovers’ attacking players made up for in neat link-up play. Koiki stung the palms of Jones at the end of a promising counterattack five minutes before the break.
Rovers started the second half well, with Josh Hare releasing Luke McCormick in behind down the right wing, but his cross was too strong for Nicholson and flashed across the goalmouth and out to safety.
McCormick was involved again 10 minutes after the break, with Josh Grant winning the ball with a firm challenge in midfield and sending the Gas on the counter. Nicholson fed the ball to McCormick, who took aim from 25 yards and fired only a foot or two over the crossbar.
Ed Upson was the next to try his luck for Rovers, with Luke Leahy’s throw-in finding him in the box, but the midfielder dragged his halfvolley wide.
The Gas huffed and puffed in the closing stages, with Tisdale rolling the dice with a triple substitution, but they could not break through and are now six without a win in League One ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup second round tie with Darlington at the Memorial Stadium.