Bristol Rovers host Forest Green Rovers on Sunday afternoon knowing that they will reach the Conference Premier playoff final should they avoid defeat at the Memorial Stadium.

The visitors will take encouragement from their second-half display in the first leg, but they face a team who have suffered just one defeat in the league since October 18.

Bristol Rovers

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Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke would have been delighted to have ended the first leg with an advantage over their opponents, but it was a case of missed opportunities for his side at The New Lawn.

The Conference Premier runners-up created 14 chances during a first half in which they dominated but they had only one goal to show for their efforts after lacking a cutting edge in front of goal.

Striker Matty Taylor, who has previously played for Forest Green, netted the all-important strike to take his recent tally to nine in 12 games as well as improving his record to 20 for the season.

While Rovers continue to pose a threat in the final third, their backline is doing their own job at the other end of the pitch.

Wednesday night's shutout was their fifth clean sheet in eight games, with just one goal being conceded in each of the other three fixtures.

Clarke and his players would have still been feeling the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion when they played in midweek, but they will now be focused on securing the two wins they require to join Barnet in League Two.

Recent form: WWWDWW

Forest Green Rovers

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During the opening 45 minutes of the first leg, Forest Green looked slightly overawed by the enormity of featuring in the Conference Premier playoffs for the first time.

However, Rovers, who have been in the top tier of non-League football for 17 years, improved in the second half and they could count themselves unfortunate not to find an equaliser.

Manager Adrian Pennock will be ruing the missed opportunity to take advantage of the sending-off of Ellis Harrison, but he will also be relieved that they aren't making the trip to the Memorial Ground further adrift on aggregate.

Striker Jon Parkin, who is one of the main reasons why they are in this position, failed to get too many sightings of goal on Wednesday and Pennock will be keen for the 25-goal forward to see more of the ball at the weekend.

Parkin's strength in defensive areas could also prove key, but Pennock will be aware that his team can't afford to start as slowly as they did at their home ground.

They already possess a victory at Bristol Rovers this season but their opponents pose a different threat now, and Forest Green will need to produce their best football to overturn their deficit.

Recent form: LWWWDL

Team News

Clarke will be forced into at least one alteration due to the one-match suspension of striker Ellis Harrison.

That could see a return to the starting lineup for Nathan Blissett, but the on-loan Kidderminster Harriers man hasn't scored since the start of February.

Pennock is likely to be toying with the idea of introducing James Norwood in place of Stuart Fleetwood.

Both men have an argument for a starting role, but Fleetwood's experience could see him get the nod.

Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:
Puddy, Lockyer, McChrystal, Parkes, Brown, Gosling, Lines, Mansell, Monkhouse, Taylor, Blissett

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:
Arnold, Pipe, Clough, Bennett, Wedgbury, Fleetwood, Racine, Guthrie, Frear, Sinclair, Parkin

Head To Head

With Bristol Rovers competing as a Football League club until last summer, these two clubs didn't face each other until the third week of this campaign when they played out a 1-1 draw at The New Lawn.

In the reverse fixture less than two months later, an early goal from Daniel Coles helped Forest Green to an impressive win on their travels.

We say: Bristol Rovers 2-1 Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green will have probably learned their lesson having started slowly in the first leg but while an improvement is likely on Sunday, they could struggle to keep out a Rovers outfit who scored seven goals in their last fixture at the Memorial Ground.

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