Francis: 'I will have to improve against Bristol Rovers'
Simon told the Echo: "I thought I could have personally done better for Southampton's first two goals in our last game. I was very disappointed and I will have to improve against Bristol Rovers because that will be an even tougher game. They have surprised everyone this season, including myself, with how well they are doing, and this will be an even harder match than last week for us."
The Pirates currently stand fifth in League One despite losing top scorer Rikki Lambert to the Saints, a similar situation developed with Southend Francis believes.
He explained: "Back then our whole game was built around Freddy and I thought it was the same with Lambert at Bristol Rovers. To be honest I didn't expect much from them after he left but they've done brilliantly. When Freddy left we looked to other players and had to use other areas. It wasn't a good thing to lose a player like that but we were a stronger team unit and continued to pass the ball around well. The same thing has happened with them and they have got some great results this season."
The Pirates visit south east Essex after a two-week break since their surprise 5-1 defeat at Norwich.
Rovers were due to play Leeds last weekend but the match was called off as the League One leaders had three players called up into their national squads.