Bristol Rovers predicted XI v Derby County: formation switch & four changes for League One clash

The Gas take on promotion pushing Derby in League One at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Bristol Rovers take on high-flying Derby County in League One at the Memorial Stadium this weekend.

It’s a tale of the 11s for the Gas at the moment, as they sit 11th in the table, 11 points off the play-off positions, with 11 games to go until the end of the season.

As for tomorrow's visitors, Paul Warne's men sit third in the division, seven points off leaders Portsmouth and just one point off Bolton Wanderers, who earned a point in midweek against fellow promotion candidates Barnsley.

Derby are having a great season under Warne, especially away from home as the Rams have won 11 games on the road this season, more than any other side in the division. The Derbyshire outfit will be hoping that they can jump up back into the Championship next season, where they were only two campaigns ago.

The Pirates met County at Pride park back in November, where Rovers were agonisingly beat 2-1, thanks to an injury-time winner by Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Former County player Chris Martin scored for the Gas that day, and he will be hoping to continue his rich run of goal scoring form, as the 35-year-old has netted in each of his last four games.

Martin signed as a free-agent back in September of this season and has proved to have been a brilliant coup for the Gas, with the forward having scored 15 league goals in 20 starts this season.

Taylor has a slight selection dilemma ahead of the Rams' visit, with forced changes due to injuries and suspension. This could well lead to a formation switch by the 42-year-old, reverting back to a system of three central defenders, a scenario Gasheads will be familiar with, as the Pirates played this way in the earlier stages of the Taylor's tenure.

Here is how I think Rovers could line-up ahead of Saturday's clash with Derby:

Predicted XI: (3-4-2-1)

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