Rovers' tough start to their League One campaign continues as they entertain table topping Leyton Orient this week-end. Having played seven gives the East London team have won five, drawn one and lost one. Their away record is perfect. This will be the 100th time that the teams have clashed.

Last week Rovers bounced back from the 3-0 home defeat inflicted by Leeds United with a good display and a share of the points at Carlisle, Paul Trollope has expressed his desire for his team to produce their first home win of the season before it becomes a monkey on the back of the team.

The O's one defeat was inflicted last week as they went down at home to Hartlepool 4-2. Ian Moore raced clear to put Pools ahead by beating Stuart Nelson at the second attempt, before James Brown made it 2-0 from 25 yards.

Indecisive goalkeeping by the North Easterners Jan Budtz resulted in JJ Melligan halving Orient's arrears from outside the box.

Andy Monkhouse hammered in United's third, substitute Charlie Daniels pulled one back but Moore completed the scoring with a low drive.

Talking prior to that game, Orient's Wayne Gray spoke of his team's start to the season, "We've made a good start, and if we can continue with that, I'll be happy. It's about getting as many points on the board as quickly as possible. But I'm not worrying about anyone behind us - I'm just worrying about our next game and hopefully beating the next team we come up against."

Gray moved to Brisbane Road from League One rivals Yeovil in the summer for an undisclosed five-figure fee. He has already linked up well with strike partner Adam Boyd, who joined from Luton a week after Gray's arrival and has already found the net four times to Gray's once.

Boyd also enjoyed a slice of fortune in the previous Saturday's 1-0 home win against Bournemouth, when he grabbed the only goal on 71 minutes - with boss Martin Ling having already handed the sheet of paper to the fourth official to substitute him.

"Luckily, the manager kept Adam on for one more minute and he got the goal," Gray added. The partnership is going really well - we've got different attributes, but we work well together. I enjoy playing with him - hopefully I can get a few more goals myself and catch up with him, but it's all about the team."

Ling has had to almost completely revamp his team this summer - with 12 players leaving and 10 arriving.

Several players were released after last season's successful escape from relegation trouble, while several more declined the offer of new contracts and long-serving club captain and former Gas player Matt Lockwood was sold to Nottingham Forest.

As well as Gray and Boyd, other new arrivals include ex-Sunderland midfielder Sean Thornton and former Brentford keeper Stuart Nelson. But former Wimbledon trainee Gray, who had a loan spell at Orient in 2001/02, is pleased to have returned to his London roots - after three successful seasons with Southend and Yeovil.

"London's where I'm from, I love playing here and I'm happy to be here," he said. "In the last three years, I've had two promotions and a play-off final, so I've been quite successful and hopefully I can bring some of that spirit here."

The East London side may not have the glamour or history of Nottingham Forest, who have took just three points from their first four games - or Leeds, who have wiped out their 15-point deduction with five straight wins and continued on last week with the 2-0 win over Swansea.

But Gray explained: "It's quite similar here to Southend and Yeovil. If everyone backs each other up and works together, it's the togetherness that makes it all happen. I'm one of the new guys, but if you can gel together like we have, you never know what can happen. Everybody wants to start with a flier - and we've got off to a flier, but we just want it to continue and see how far we can take it."

Before looking at the history of Rovers and Leyton Orient games let us examine the roots of Leyton Orient; they can be traced back to 1881 as the football team of the Glyn Cricket Club for the purpose of keeping fit in the winter months. In 1888, on the suggestion of a player who worked for the Orient Shipping Line, the club took the name of Orient, which fits in nicely with their location in East London.

They changed their name in 1898 to Clapton Orient in an attempt to gain support from the affluent residents of Clapton, London, whilst 1937 saw them move to their current home in Leyton. The end of World War 2 found Orient, in common with Rovers, in financial trouble. A fighting fund was set up to alleviate these problems, and yet another name changed followed, this time to Leyton Orient.

In 1962, they reached the pinnacle of English football, gaining promotion to Division One and 2 years later, their record attendance of 34,345 for an FA Cup tie against West Ham United.

In recent times, they have again faced financial problems. As the end of the 1994-95 season approached, with relegation looming came the news that the Club faced severe financial problems, with the PFA covering players' wages for a while. Orient were asked by the Football League to confirm that they could fulfil their fixtures to the end of the season and for a while it looked as if they might not finish the season, let alone start the next one.

After small businessman Phil Wallace admitted he did not have sufficient funds to buy the club, sports promoter Barry Hearn stepped in to take control of the club he supported as a boy. The club has been stabilised financially and in May 1999, played at Wembley in the 3rd Division Play-Off Final. Although they lost to Scunthorpe United, over 25,000 O's fans made the memorable trip.

Two years later there was further disappointment with a 4-2 defeat against Blackpool at the Millennium Stadium in another Play-Off Final. Despite going ahead after just 27 seconds thanks to Chris Tate, the Seasiders were too strong in the end.

Three years of struggle followed before a mid-table finish in 2004/05 season and an automatic promotion as 3rd placed club the following year.

Orient's first season back in Division One was always going to be a struggle but they avoided the drop with a 20th place finish.

Rovers have had some exciting clashes with the East London team in recent seasons none more so than a 2001 Boxing Day eight goal thriller which saw the Gas run out 5-3 winners. It is interesting that generally games between the two teams are fairly low scoring affairs, with a few notable exceptions.

Orient have rarely scored many against the Gas and yet Rovers have hit a 4 and a 5 (besides that Boxing Day game) and amazingly enough they have both been in London. The first of those victories was a 5-1 win with goals from Holloway (2), David Williams, Randall and Withey on 23rd October 1982. Two years later on 30th November, Holloway, O'Connor (2) and Randall were scorers in a 4-1 win.

In 1998-99 the sides were paired together in both the FA Cup and League Cup. After a 1-1 draw at Brisbane Road in the Worthington Cup First Round First Leg, Mark Warren hit a dramatic 119th minute winner in Bristol after the tie looked set to go to penalties. But Rovers got their revenge in the FA Cup Fourth Round as three goals in the last 15 minutes saw off the O's challenge.

In recent years the likes of Lee Thorpe Justin Channing, Jamie Clapham and Jason Harris have played for both teams and of course Matty Lockwood has played for both teams. Wayne Carlisle is another who took the move up the M4.

In an early season game in 2004-05 Rovers travelled to Brisbane Road unbeaten with what appeared to be a rock-solid defence. However it crumbled and let in as many goals in one game as it had in the previous seven. It was a game in which Rovers played well in patches and actually led 2-1, but then conceded three goals in just seven minutes in the second half. It was Carlisle who inflicted much of the pain.

A Boxing Day home game with Leyton Orient gave Rovers the perfect opportunity for revenge for that first defeat of the season at Brisbane Road. However a Robbie Ryan handball on the line meant Rovers were down to 10 men and a goal down as Lockwood converted his penalty against his former team. Jamie Forrester equalised from the spot in the second half but Rovers found the one-man deficit too great to overcome a determined Orient team. It was Rovers' third draw in a row and a fourth game undefeated.

The last two seasons of League opposition saw the Gas win 3-2 in East London early in the season and then take part in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Mem on 31st January 2006.

Overall Rovers hold the upper hand with 41 victories to Orient's 31 in the 99 games. In the West Country Rovers have 25 wins, 13 draws and 10 defeats, with 82 goals scored and 51 conceded.

Both Managers will be urging their teams on to take all three points in this game. Martin Ling will want his men to prove that the loss at home to Hartlepool was an aberration and Paul Trollope is looking for that illusive first home win.

Written by Gerry Prewett