The last thing Bristol Rovers wanted was a trip to Adams Park to play promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday, writes Steve Knowlson. Goal shy and bereft of confidence, Ben Garner’s men hadn’t tasted victory under the new manager and were on a winless run stretching back 10 games.

The hosts are the surprise package of League One starting off the season in rip roaring fashion and maintaining a top two challenge into February, in stark contrast to Rovers’ rapid slide down the table. Unfortunately, the game went very much to form.

Akinfenwa opened the scoring for the hosts in the 9th minute before Jayden Mitchell-Lawson levelled with a fine strike from 20 yards. The Gas were very much in the game with Clarke-Harris striking the bar before our fragility was exposed when Wycombe scored two quick-fire goals within two minutes - both from set pieces.

Rovers huffed and puffed in the second 45 as they tried to reduce the deficit with Wycombe content to protect their lead. We had opportunities to get back into the match but, as so often this year, we failed to find the net. The game finished 3-1 and despite the chances we created, Wycombe were the more savvy side and deserved the three points.

On Tuesday evening we made the trip up to the Wirral to play Tranmere Rovers - a team languishing in the relegation places and on an even worse run of form than the Gas. This fixture had 0-0 written all over it and again the form book didn’t disappoint.

We missed a several chances throughout the match on a difficult pitch but at least our defence stood firm. Clarke-Harris, Mitchell-Lawson and Clarke all spurned chances and Ed Upson was unlucky to see a great strike from 25 yards cannon back off the post. Clarke-Harris had a fantastic opportunity to grab a first win in the Garner era when put through one-on-one deep into stoppage time but he put the shot agonisingly wide.

Garner’s winless streak now stretches to 12 games. Performances are improving but too many mistakes at both ends of the pitch are proving very frustrating for Gasheads.