Darrell Clarke was left frustrated after Bristol Rovers fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Port Vale in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The Valiants had the best opportunities in the first half, with Ben Waine at the heart of the action. The forward first beat Luke Southwood with a downward header into the bottom corner, but the flag went up for offside, before chipping a one-on-one effort over the bar just before the break.
Either side of the two opportunities was a chance for Ellis Harrison, but Ben Amos saved his close-range effort. Instead, the game was decided by a goal just two minutes into the second half, with Waine racing away from Rovers' defence before finishing clinically.
Speaking to the media after the fixture, Head Coach Clarke was disappointed with the way his team conceded and the Pirates' play in the final third.
Well, Darrell, a frustrating exit from the FA Cup, just give us your thoughts on that one...
“We huffed and puffed and blew nothing down. I thought it was a very lacklustre game, to be honest with you, with not a lot of quality in it at times. We had a great chance in the first half with Ellis Harrison, and the goalkeeper pulled off a great save.
“Scoring the first goal was key today, and we gave a Sunday League goal away. I’m absolutely raging about the goal because that is a pathetic goal to give away; it's not acceptable.
“That means we’re chasing the game, and we huffed and puffed and we didn’t. We had a few half-chances, a few chances to break, wide players getting enough of the ball, forwards getting enough of the ball to make things happen, and we haven’t.”
The goal that you conceded, you mentioned it already, they had a player offside, did you think your players switched off because of that?
“No, I don't think, I know we did. It’s a Sunday league goal. That’s why he came off the pitch. Players don’t mean to make mistakes, but have a focus and an understanding that we’re at a level now that we can’t be giving goals away like that, in my opinion, and then we’re chasing the game.
“It’s a sticky pitch, the ball didn’t really move that quickly on it, we got ourselves in positions to go and hurt their backline on numerous occasions, and yet again we didn’t produce. Anywhere near enough.
“When we do get that chance, we don’t take it. I don’t think we deserved anything out of the game if I’m honest with you. They’ve had a few chances. The goalkeeper had a good game again.
“I can go in there, keep stripping them down. I can keep killing their confidence, but sometimes it’s better to just keep your mouth shut, or I’ll end up ruining careers if I’m honest with you. I think some of them think they’re better than what they are at times, and they’re not producing it.
“So, produce it. Produce those moments, really take care of those moments, and you’ll start becoming players, because we’ve had enough occasions yet again to get towards their backline to produce efforts, and we don’t.”
You mention the players today. Is there anything else that you can do at this stage, Darrell?
“Well, there’s always [something]. It stops with me. We keep working on things. I keep mentally, physically, and tactically trying to work on those final things, making things happen and produce, because we get control of the build.
“We get your forward-thinking players on the ball, and we’re not hurting them near enough for what we should be. That’s a big frustration for us, and it has been all season if I’m honest with you, so just keep working away, chipping away.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got another game, a big game on Tuesday night against Barnet. We have to make sure we prep and prepare right for that and try and bounce back then.”
