Rovers host Crawley Town at the Mem tomorrow evening, with a home tie against the winner of Barrow and Taunton in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup awaiting the winner.
Manager Darrell Clarke expects the visitors to provide a tough test tomorrow but is focused on making sure that Rovers progress in this year’s competition.
“Crawley gave us a great game down at their place. The players and the staff here will be giving it our best shot to get through to the second round,” said Darrell.
“Crawley have done well in League two, but they have had some mixed results lately, but they will be looking to bounce back, so we will have to be on our toes tomorrow evening.”
Looking back at Saturday’s loss at Millwall, the Manager conveyed that the players will be looking to put the defeat behind them with a combination of both a positive result and performance against Crawley.
“When we lose it always is a bit raw,” said the Manager.
“Tomorrow evening is another game and we hate losing games at this football club. We aren’t built on a losing culture here and like myself, the players are always hurt after a defeat and we want to bounce back as quickly as possible and ensure that confidence isn’t affected, which it shouldn’t be.”
“I thought during the first fifteen minutes on Saturday it was shaping up to be a thrilling game. We had a header cleared off the line and Matty Taylor had an effort from twenty-five yards that went narrowly wide, so the positives for me were that we created chances on the day.”
“It was one of those games where circumstances changed and I don't think we adapted too well after sending off, but we got a grip on the game in the final ten minutes of the first-half and during twenty minutes of the second half, but for me we were a little too soft in our penalty area on Saturday.”