New manager John Gregory was dealt a late injury blow ahead of his first match in charge of Crawley Town.

Skipper Josh Simpson had to pull out after picking up a problem in the warm-up, with Andy Drury coming in as a late replacement.

Gregory had originally kept faith with ten of the starting line-up which went down 1-0 at Crewe Alexandra last weekend for the FA Cup second round tie at Bristol Rovers.

The only other change saw veteran striker Gary Alexander come in for his first start since the end of October. Alexander partners Emile Sinclair up front with Jamie Proctor dropping to the bench.

Gregory also sticks with the 4-4-2 formation used by caretaker bosses Alexander and Martin Hinshelwood at Crewe, while Rovers line-up in a 4-5-1 formation.

Mike Jones is not even on the bench due to a groin injury which means Crawley have only five of the permitted seven substitutes.

Rovers make one change from the team which won 3-0 at home against AFC Wimbledon in League Two last Saturday. Defender Will Packwood has not been allowed to play by parent club Birmingham City so Ollie Clarke comes into the side.

Bristol Rovers (4-5-1): Mildenhall; Smith, Lockyer, Parkes, Brown; Richards, Norburn, Clarke, Harding, Clarkson; Harrold. Subs: Gough, Harrison, Green, Santos, Keary, Southway, Lucas.

Crawley (4-4-2): P Jones; Connolly, McFadzean, Walsh, Sadler; Adams, Bulman, Drury, Clarke; Sinclair, Alexander. Subs: Maddison, Hurst, Torres, Smith, Proctor.