MATCHDAY LIVE: Swindon Town v Bristol Rovers

FULL TIME: Swindon Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers

93' The free-kick is on target from Reed but straight at the keeper.

1-1

92' Grant has fouled McKirdy on the edge of the box and Swindon have a chance from a free-kick.

1-1

90' There will be 6 minutes of added time.

1-1

85' Bristol Sub

Off - Collins

On - Thomas

1-1

83' Hunt concedes a free-kick with a stupid challenge to the left of Swindon's box. Fortunately the resulting header is weak and comfortable for Ward.

1-1

79' Patient build-up play from Swindon nearly results in an attempt on target as Williams' dinked ball across the box finds its way into the hands of Belshaw as McKirdy was lurking.

1-1

73' Paul Coutts finds his way into the book after fouling Williams in the Swindon half.

1-1

70' Swindon concede a corner as Conroy rushes his clearance and Odimayo has to put a late block in. The delivery into the box comes out the other side and Bristol work their way into the Swindon box before Loft miskicks his shot and Town clear.

1-1

67' Better play from Swindon as McKirdy is given space on the edge of the box before testing Belshaw with a well-hit shot that the keeper manages to get down to.

1-1

65' Swindon break and Simpson shoots across the face of goal with McKirdy left cutting as frustrated figure as his teammate decided to shoot when he was open at the back post.

1-1

62' Simpson wins Swindon a corner as his backheel is rebounded out of play. Swindon have to do better from these set plays as the Bristol defence clears before Ward gets the ball played back to him.

1-1

57' Swindon win a corner as they attack the away fans in the Stratton Bank. The delivery is good and Conroy's header with his back to goal is saved.

1-1

56' This game is heating up as a series of crunching tackles raises the atmosphere inside the County Ground. The referee has just booked Iandolo for one of those tackles after playing advantage.

1-1

51' Bristol break and Nicholson cuts his way in from the left before shooting straight at Ward.

1-1

49' Official attendance is announced as 12695.

1-1

48' Iandolo has gone down from a challenge inside the Rovers half and is receiving treatment.

1-1

45' Back underway at the County Ground.

1-1

HALF-TIME: Swindon Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers

45' Hunt is deemed to have fouled Nicholson and Bristol have a free-kick level with the Town box. The ball in is cleared by Gladwin and Swindon can breathe again.

1-1

45' There will be 2 minutes of added time.

1-1

40' Loft fouls O'Brien with a challenge that sees him come through him. A yellow card is shown and that's the third of the game.

1-1

36' Swindon were victims of their own making their as they put pressure on themselves from a throw-in and then never fully managed to clear their lines from the corner.

1-1

35' GOAL BRISTOL

Sam Finley puts a ball into the box, Collins rises but it;s not clear whether he got a touch on it as the ball nestles in the back of the net.

1-1

34' Bristol win a corner as Iandolo defends down near the corner flag. The ball into the box is high but Swindon clear.

1-0

31' Sam Finley is shown a yellow card for a bad challenge on Williams. That provoked some reaction from the Swindon crowd and for a moment you felt the ref was going to show a red card.

1-0

29' Bristol Rovers have a corner that Swindon do clear. The ball comes out and Williams puts a sliding challenge in on Taylor and a free-kick is awarded.

1-0

24' Connor Taylor picks up a yellow card for a rash challenge on Simpson on the halfway line.

1-0

22' Swindon break and Iandolo flashes a ball across the six-yard box, all it needed was a touch but Simpson can't get there.

1-0

21' Simpson does brilliantly to drift past Taylor inside the Rovers box before his cross is cleared for a corner. Reed takes the corner but Bristol clear and break on the counter-attack but Swindon recover well and win back possession.

1-0

21' Swindon have a corner that sees Jake O'Brien rise highest but fail to keep his effort on target.

1-0

17' That was a brilliant goal for Simpson who composed himself before shooting on-target under little to no pressure from the Bristol defence. That goal raised the roof and Swindon will now look to go for a second, but how will Rovers respond?

1-0

16' GOAL SWINDON

Simpson takes a touch and curls a shot past Belshaw from outside the box.

1-0

12' O'Brien fouls Loft on the left edge of Swindon's box. Evans puts a high ball into the box but Ward is alert off his line to claim the ball. Swindon then play it forward but Gladwin gives the ball away and Collins' eventual shot is off target.

0-0

9' Chance for Bristol as Collins puts a delicious ball across the six-yard box, Loft is stretching but can't get a touch on it. That was close.

0-0

8' The second corner is put into a dangerous area but Bristol defend their box well and clear for a throw-in.

0-0

6' Hunt wins Swindon their first corner of the game as Grant blocks his cross. Reed puts a ball towards the back post, McKirdy brings the ball down and Swindon win another corner.

0-0

5' Hunt gives away a free-kick just inside the Swindon half but Bristol opt to play it short and Swindon eventually win possession back before McKirdy is fouled by Connolly. That's now four fouls inside the opening 4 minutes.

0-0

2' McKirdy wins a free-kick for Swindon halfway inside the Rovers half. Reed puts a delightful ball into the box, Gladwin beats his man and gets a foot to it but he send his effort over the bar. Chance.

0-0

1' Ward has possession as Bristol try to play a diagonal ball into the box from a set-piece. The crowd is rocking and this will be a nervy opening ten minutes.

0-0

KICK OFF: Bristol gets us underway in the derby.

0-0

Here come the players and the County Ground is absolutely rocking ahead of kick-off. Chants of 'Red Army' are echoing round the stadium and we are edging ever closer to kick off.

This is your 5 minute warning!!

The players are heading back in down the tunnel as the fans rise off their seats to clap them off the pitch. The Stratton Bank is open to away fans today with an expected 14,000 fans in attendance for today's encounter.

The two teams are still currently out in front of us running through their warm-ups but will be heading back in down the tunnel shortly. The last time these two teams met at the County Ground saw Brett Pitman score a late header to hand the Robins a one-nil victory in League One, he'll be hoping to reproduce a similar performance against Swindon today.

Swindon however hold the better record with Garner's side winning four of their last five encounters against Bristol with McKirdy, Payne, and Gladwin all on the scoresheet in their 3-1 away win earlier in the season.

Well we are just over 20 minutes away from kick-off here inside the County Ground. Let's take a look at some of Swindon Town Head Coach, Ben Garner's key quotes from yesterday's press conference.

Garner on Swindon's ability to bounce back after defeat:

"I think the team spirit is a big part of that and consistency has been the key thing. We don't change what we do. For example we in at Port Vale and we come in and have the same process and that is the same after defeat. We try and be consistent in our approach and moving on very quickly to the next game regardless what has happened."

Garner on building team unity:

"I think quite a lot of the team unity is organic to be honest. When we recruited in the summer we did a lot of due diligence on the characters and their background. We tried to create a culture and environment to help that and we provide support for the players off the pitch in terms of accommodation, nutrition, etcetera.

"But a lot of it is credit to the players. We have a leadership group that I speak to very rarely to be honest but as much as possible I let them and the senior players run the dressing room. There is a really close group and lots of young hungry players who want to improve and get better."

Garner on the meaning of double victory over Bristol:

"First and foremost it would be fantastic for us to get the three points. We would love to win for the supporters but from a professional perspective we won't get drawn into that but hopefully, we can give the supporters something to cheer about."

Joey Barton's Bristol Rovers arrive at the County Ground off the back of a 2-0 home win over Bristol Rovers. Former Swindon striker Brett Pitman starts on the bench as new signing Ryan Loft leads the line.

4-3-2-1

GK: Belshaw

RB: Hoole

CB: Connolly

CB: Taylor

LB: Grant

CM: Finley

CM: Coutts (C)

CM: Nicholson

CAM: Evans

CAM: Collins

ST: Loft

SUBSTITUTIONS:

Thomas

Clarke

Anderton

Anderson

Spence

Jaakkola

Pitman

Swindon Town remains unchanged from their recent away victory over Port Vale with Ben Gladwin keeping his place as Jordan Lyden remains on the bench.

5-3-2

GK: Ward

RWB: Hunt

CB: O'Brien

CB: Odimayo

CB: Conroy (C)

LWB: Iandolo

CM: Williams

CM: Reed

CM: Gladwin

ST: McKirdy

ST: Simpson

SUBSTITUTIONS

Wollacott

Lyden

Mitchell-Lawson

East

Aguiar

Parsons

Dabre

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for today's live text commentary from Swindon Town v Bristol Rovers. Let's run you through how the teams line up for today.