Darrell Clarke is not looking for excuses after Bristol Rovers fell to a 3-1 defeat away to Accrington Stanley in Sky Bet League Two.
The Pirates went behind after six minutes through Isaac Heath's close-range finish, but the Pirates responded well and had the better chances for the next hour of the contest. Shaq Forde sent a first-time strike over the bar, and Alfie Chang saw his low drive cleared off the line before Kamil Conteh levelled the score with a thunderous strike from the edge of the box.
The Gas had all of the momentum and limited Stanley's opportunities, but the hosts regained their advantage through Farrend Rawson before Isaac Sinclair doubled their lead five minutes later.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Clarke reflected on the defeat and where his side must improve.
So, Darrell, a defeat against Accrington today. How do you reflect on that one?
"We’re never going to win games the way we are conceding goals at the minute, if I am honest with you. You can understand it at times if we’re conceding goals because we’re sustaining loads of attacks and we’re under the cosh, but for me, we just look soft.
"We look like a really soft team, and we’re struggling in both [final] thirds of the pitch. We can’t use the excuse of unavailability today. We can’t use any excuses; we’ve got to be miles better. I’ve got to be miles better; that accountability goes with me. To lose the number of games we’ve lost consecutively is not acceptable.
"That buck stops with me. Working hard with the group, I'm definitely not seeing what I’ve seen in training when it comes to matches. There is a softness about us, and until we clamp that out, until we stop that, we’re not going to win football games.
"Back to work on Monday. Apologies to the fans who have come in their numbers. I thought when we got back in the game with a great strike at 1-1, we would go on and win the game, but we’re too soft. We give a goal away from a set-piece, and then we make an individual mistake for the third. So, we’re punished for those moments, but we have to be stronger."
Is it more disappointing to know that at 1-1, all of the momentum was in Rovers’ favour?
"Of course, it is because they don’t have anything in the first half, but we have already told them that Heath causes problems. He makes a run, we don’t track our runner, and we’re 1-0 down after six or seven minutes. It’s not acceptable. Then we’re chasing the game. We get ourselves back in the game, then we give two cheap goals away again.
"It is not acceptable. I look at players in there, go in there, hammer them. They are getting dogs abuse when the players are coming off the pitch, but they’ve got to understand that we can’t be soft. We’ve got to be stronger, and to do that, we need more consistency from players to be stronger because we look like a soft touch at the minute."
You mentioned the softness there. How does that change in your opinion?
“For me, it’s in both ends. I think you’re looking for consistency. We’ve got to look after Ellis today, he’s back. Promise Omochere is still out for a few more weeks, and you’re looking for consistency.
"The best thing to do is try and stick with consistency, but I’ve not had opportunities to do that. But that’s making excuses for the players because we should have enough in the group to be able to come here and win the game. We gave the three points away."
