Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor has praised Swindon as a ‘big club’ ahead of their Bristol Street Motors Trophy game this evening.

Swindon welcome local their local rivals to the County Ground with the Robins still seeking their first win in the competition.

Previewing the game with club media, Taylor acknowledged the reputation of the League Two side.

“Swindon are a big club. They always have been and always will be. It’s a fantastic place to play football as long as the weather is right and there’s no heavy wind.

“It’s a big pitch and a good pitch, so we go there and it’s a relatively local one for our fans to come and watch us.”

The former Rotherham boss also holds high regards of manager Mark Kennedy as they met on the opening day of the 2022/2023 League One season and played out a 1-1 draw.

"I came across Mark Kennedy when he was at Lincoln City and in my experience of him, I’ve been really impressed.

“He’s a good footballing man that gets his team to play football.”

Similarly to Swindon, the Gas may be looking to rotate their squad despite their game on Saturday against Blackpool being called off.

"We’ll rotate, move things around and look after a few, but we want to be competitive”, Taylor said.

"There is so much youth in there that I just think they need to keep on playing. I think training could cloud too many of them, so let’s keep putting them out there and see where it takes us.

"We do want to progress in this competition, and it’s a great opportunity."

The Pirates will be without a handful of players as Scott Sinclair, Jamie Lindsay and Jack Hunt are doubts for the clash whilst Michael Forbes is away with the Northern Ireland U21 squad.