Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle will meet again for the third time this season after the League One leaders scraped through to the quarter-finals of the EFL Trophy on Wednesday.
Argyle survived a scare against League Two AFC Wimbledon at Home Park, falling 3-0 down at half time. But a Sam Cosgrove hat-trick in the second half levelled the tie, and despite missing their first penalty in the shoutout, Steven Schumacher's Pilgrims came out victorious.
The result sets up a clash against Joey Barton's Gas in the last eight at the Mem, which is pencilled in to take place in the week commencing January 9. The teams have already played twice this season, with both games ending in a draw after 90 minutes.
The first meeting was in Devon in September in the group stages of the EFL Trophy, finishing 1-1 in normal time before Argyle won the bonus-point shootout. The first League One fixture between the sides followed a month later, with the Gas storming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in a thrilling clash at the Mem.
There is plenty of added spice between the sides and a distinctly Liverpudlian flavour to the contest, with plenty of Merseyside connections shared both on the pitch and in the technical areas, including former Rovers defender Mark Hughes who left in January to become Schumacher's assistant manager at Home Park.
Before the league meeting on October 22, Barton stoked the fire by slamming Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip, the man who released the Rovers boss from his beloved Everton when he was 14 years old.
“I don’t have a moment for him, and he avoids me like the plague,” Barton said in a press conference. “I wrote about him quite frankly in my book and, to be honest, I still carry it around with me. I still carry grudges.
“I could have listened to him and given up on my dream. Luckily for me, I knew he was full of [expletive] and didn’t know anything about football."
Two months on from that blood-and-thunder clash on the pitch, allegations emerged that Rovers' first-team coach Andy Mangan allegedly used homophobic language towards a Plymouth staff member at half time. Mangan has categorically denied the claim after being charged by the FA and Rovers said in a statement they were "astonished" proceedings had been commenced by the governing body, saying there was no evidence to support the claim.
It is understood there was a confrontation after the game at the Mem because Mangan and club captain Paul Coutts allegedly caught a member of Plymouth's staff filming around the back door of the home dressing room during the half-time interval. Plymouth declined to comment when contacted by Bristol Live.
Since the introduction of under-21 teams to the competition in 2016, the EFL Trophy has failed to draw crowds and it has largely been an afterthought for most clubs taking part, but with a trip to Wembley just two wins away and quite the storyline going into the game, there will be no shortage of motivation for either side.
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