Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke left no one in any doubt about what he thought of his side’s performance against MK Dons when speaking after the demoralising home defeat, as reported by The Bristol Post.
The Gas were beaten 4-0 by Paul Warne’s side, a second straight league loss.
Things Need To Be Put Right
Rovers were behind early on, thanks to an Alfie Kilgour own goal, and never really recovered before losing three late goals to Laurence Maguire, Alex Gilbey, and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy. Clarke did not hold back in his post-match assessment.
“It’s a shocking day for us. Some of the goals we gave away were very, very poor. A couple of own goals in there [referring to Gilbey’s deflected effort], and then a couple of silly decisions at the back end of the game. I think that it’s key that when we’ve had such a disappointing afternoon, we get back on the grass as quickly as we possibly can to make sure we put those things right.”
Teams Like That Will Punish You
The Rovers manager continued to express his disappointment at the performance and the need to be better against good opposition.
“Listen, they’re shocking goals!”“They’re just goals where, when you’re playing a decent team like MK Dons with good players, you’re going to get punished. So, we didn’t give ourselves a platform, we conceded early, and it got worse from there, if I’m honest. We never got a foothold in the game. We huffed and puffed a little bit in the second half and first half, but not really the quality levels that we needed to unlock them.”“The last two goals typified our defending, well, the last three goals to be honest with you, typify our defending. In set-piece situations today, we were really, really poor. Never got a foothold in the game. Never brought our patterns into play.”
Clarke Wants A Reaction
Prior to last weekend’s loss at Walsall, The Gas had gone 7 league games undefeated and began to push themselves into playoff contention. Clarke is keen that the two defeats don’t take away from the good work so far this season.
“Shocking, shocking afternoon for us, but it’s important – I know this club very, very well – and it’s important that we react. And the only way you react is next Saturday at three. But, for me and my staff, it’s about getting the boys ready, regrouped again, Monday on the training pitch because I won’t let it derail us.”“Words are pretty cheap after a performance like that. I just thought we were miles off it, with and without the ball. I need to look into that to see why that was the case, but I also don’t want that to derail what’s been a good base so far.”
Writer’s View
This is a hard one to take for Bristol Rovers, but it is important for them to remember they are just 3 points outside of the playoff spots. Clarke’s side have only been beaten by 2 teams in the top 4 in their last 9 matches and have a chance to put it right against a struggling Tranmere Rovers next weekend.
