It is no detriment to the common or garden Rovers fan that Saturday will seem in some ways like a home game to Aston Villa, writes Simon Smith.

We saw it ourselves last season as we outnumbered the ‘home’ team on a number of occasions.

Of course, Villa won’t exceed our own attendance, but they can be relied upon to, as Public Enemy said, Bring The Noise.

Spread out about the massive ground our vocal support does tend to disappear into a vacuum at times. This is hardly our fault.

A standing section in the middle of the Riverside would certainly be welcome for those who are most vociferous in their encouragement.

After the disappointment in Bristol it is essential that both team and supporters get off to a positive start on Saturday.

Rovers have a strong squad to choose from and Tony Mowbray has some tough choices to make.

If fit then surely Derrick Williams and Bradley Dack will return and I am certainly of a mind that Joe Rothwell should partner Corry Evans.

So many excellent attacking options are available and I foresee a few goals, probably at both ends if Mowbray goes gung-ho.

I’m still angry at the fixture change at Ashton Gate which was undoubtedly to Rovers detriment while seemingly “rescheduled to aid (Bristol City’s) recovery and alleviate fixture congestion.”

Did we agree to this and if so, why? It gave our fans two hours less time to travel on a Sunday morning. It gave the home team a massive advantage.

That said, I’m not making any excuses for the performance.

I guess I always feel like this after the seemingly interminable breaks.

A Saturday home fixture against a ‘big’ club that considers its stay in this division a temporary one, is a mouth-watering one and I urge you ‘floating voters’ to get yourself a seat and see if we can sing the lads home to three points.

I would dearly love Rovers to roll over every single team in this division at a canter, but I have to admit I’m looking forward to a tough battle and hopefully a well-earned victory.