Bristol Rovers boss sticking to his principles in dogfight ahead of Wrexham trip (2025)

Bristol Rovers have four games remaining to get themselves out of the relegation zone, starting with a trip to Wrexham on Good Friday

Inigo Calderon has asserted that his approach to games won't change despite Bristol Rovers dropping into the League One relegation zone following a six-game losing streak.

Rovers have four matches remaining to save their League One credentials but an Easter doubleheader against Wrexham and Stevenage will likely offer clearer insight on whether or not the relegation battle will go down to the wire.

20th place Burton Albion are level on 42 points but boast a far superior goal difference and, even more crucially, a game in hand in which they host Wigan Athletic between the Gas' final two.

Next up for the Gas is a first trip to Wrexham since their Conference campaign on Good Friday in what is set up to be a massive game at both ends of the table.

While the Pirates are looking to leapfrog Burton back out of the relegation zone, their hosts are looking to hold onto their place in the automatic promotion places after a setback last weekend. A goalless draw away at Wigan, in which the North Wales outfit didn't register a shot on target, coincided with a dramatic 1-0 win for third-place Wycombe Wanderers over Stevenage, cutting the gap between second and third to just one point.

Wrexham boast the second-best home record in League One, losing just twice at the Racecourse Ground, while Rovers have the lowest points tally on the road with just 11. However, Calderon is still sticking to his principles, reinforcing the point that he approaches every game with a viewpoint to taking all three points.

"No, because I haven't changed my approach any time I have been here," the Gas head coach told Bristol Live. "I always go for the three points. Even the Bolton game some people said, ‘you came for a draw’. No, it was not. Obviously, after the game, you maybe take a point.

"I remember when we went to Ipswich I tried to win the game, maybe I was naive, but that's the way I believe. I have to believe and we're going to do the same.

"We're not going to go there just to get one point. If after they're much better than us, you have to defend and you are getting a point, one point is more than nothing. But our idea is to go and get the three [points], 100 per cent."

The odds of Rovers ending their losing streak at Wrexham are against them but if there is an sliver of positivity that they can take into their trip to North Wales, it will be their performances against higher-placed sides since Calderon's arrival.

Since the turn of the year, the Gas have beaten Barnsley (who were on a four-game winning streak at the time), Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers while also drawing against Stockport County. They were also unfortunate to lose in matches against Leyton Orient and Birmingham City as well as, arguably, the reverse fixture at Bolton.

Admittedly, these performances have been reserved for the Mem with just four points taken from 10 games away from home under the Spaniard.

There was some encouragement, however, taken from how the Pirates limited Bolton to very few opportunities in a 1-0 defeat last time out on the road.

"If you see the last games we play, we’ve been performing better against the good teams," Calderon declared to Bristol Live. "You see Bolton at home, Huddersfield at home, Birmingham at home, Bolton away. I would say that we have been performing better against them. Obviously you ask me if you don't want to play against the second-best team in the division, but we have to, and we have to go and again try to do the best we can.

"As I say, that record we have against the good teams has been quite positive. Obviously the last one we played was better than the one before. So I want to think that we're improving. As I say, it is difficult to believe me, but you've been watching us. You can see maybe he's [I’m] not doing so many lies."