Steve Elliott could be in line for a recall when Bristol Rovers bid to stem their run of four successive away defeats at Colchester United tomorrow.

Pirates' boss Paul Trollope has to make a change to his back four for the trip to Essex, despite a first clean sheet in 13 games when they beat Exeter City 1-0 at the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday,

Rovers are without on-loan Pat Baldwin, who is not allowed to play against his parent club.

And with Colchester expected to rely on the direct and physical style which has propelled them to third place in League One, Trollope could turn to the imposing figure of Elliott to beef up the visitors' back line.

"Coming up against Colchester is going to be a different sort of test to the one we faced against Exeter because they are a big and powerful side," said Trollope.

"They have Kayode Odejayi and Clive Platt up front and also Kevin Lisbie, who provides a goalscoring threat.

"We have shown a good spirit and resilience at times and we are going to need to show that on Saturday.

"Colchester are a team who play to their strengths and their front two are a handful – we will need to defend against them very well.

"Pat is not available, which will give someone else an opportunity at the back. Byron Anthony was disappointed to be left out on Tuesday and he had a really good run of games, especially in the early part of the season.

"But Steve has not let us down and has different attributes.

"I'm not going to name my side, but we have options – and Steve is one of them."

Trollope was pleased with the resilience his side showed in shutting out the Grecians, who dominated much of the midweek game, but knows Rovers will have to improve in other departments if they are to return with the points this weekend.

"There was a need for good defending on Tuesday with the pressure Exeter put us under, and a good solidity about us at the back," he said.

"If we can put all of the parts of our game together, we are going to beat a lot of teams.

"In other games it's been the midfield or the strikers who have performed to a good level while the back four were a little bit ragged, but on Tuesday it was the other way around.

"We were pleased we won it, but our passing and movement and our ball retention needs to be a lot better."

Bristol Rovers have not won on opposition soil since their memorable last-gasp 3-2 triumph at Southampton in September and have since taken nothing from trips to Norwich, Southend, MK Dons and Charlton.

"We need to get back to performing and getting points on the road. We had a very pleasing start to our away fixtures and looked capable of beating anybody," said Trollope.

"There were glimpses of that in the Charlton game when we came back from 2-0 down to level and looked as though we could go on to win, only to pay for two defensive lapses."

Bristol Rovers hope their options at the back will soon be boosted further with Aaron Lescott nearing fitness after a groin injury.

"Aaron is progressing well," said Trollope. "He trained with the youth team on Tuesday, came through that well and was back with the first-team yesterday.

"Saturday will probably come too soon for him, but we will look to get him back in the squad for the Swindon game, which will be a bonus."