The Insider: Early season worries have resurfaced for Bristol Rovers ahead of Portsmouth's visit

The start to the season for Bristol Rovers has been a bit of a strange one.

It’s been positive overall, but things seem to have come in waves.

The first few weeks of the campaign were not the best.

But there was a turn in fortune after manager Graham Coughlan switched the system and went with wing-backs.

They then embarked on an unbeaten run from September until mid-October on the back of that.

The team were playing well in that period and looked solid at the back.

Prolific forward Jonson Clarke-Harris was banging them in during that period.

But injuries to both him and wing-back Josh Hare, who arrived from Eastleigh in the summer, halted the form.

There was some concern after a defeat at Doncaster earlier this month.

The lack of goal threat was evident without Clarke-Harris.

That defeat was then followed by the home loss to Bolton on Tuesday, which was the worst performance of the season.

On the back of a bad start this term and the positive reaction that followed, it will be interesting to see the response in the weeks to come.