Darrell Clarke emphasised the importance of Bristol Rovers getting out of their difficult run of form following the Gas' defeat to Crawley Town in Sky Bet League Two.
Tom Lockyer returned to the Pirates' starting team after signing on Thursday, as one of four changes to the team that lost to Tranmere Rovers, but the Gas could not find a way of coming away with a positive result after a bright start.
Jack Sparkes conceded a penalty and was shown a red card for a handball in the box, with Ryan Loft hitting the post with the spot-kick. However, an own goal from Alfie Kilgour and efforts from Harry Forster, Scott Malone, and Louis Flower helped the Red Devils to all three points.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Clarke reflected on his team’s loss against Scott Lindsay’s side and how he will support his team in response.
Gaffer, I can only imagine the frustration and annoyance after a difficult day at the office...
“Yeah, I’m saying it too often at the minute, but the same as I said to my staff there, I’ve got to be there to support my players. Hold accountability. Always, as always. Another apology to our fans, it’s happening too often these last few weeks.
"I thought we started the game solidly. We should look after three or four transitions and score the first goal if we look after that final pass, and then it’s a crazy decision. It's a crazy decision by an experienced player.
“We went down to ten men; they missed the penalty, and then the goals we conceded were poor. But listen, there are times to go and smash my lads with a stick, and now’s not the time. They need my support, the staff’s support, and we have to get through this rut and this really bad situation, not trying to paper over it.
"There aren’t a lot of things going for us at the moment, but we’ve got to pull together and go together. It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before. It’s just really disappointing when you go unbeaten in ten and then for the last three, three and a half weeks, the wheels have fallen right off.
“So, we have to regroup. I was pretty confident that it was going to be a decent performance today with the week we’ve had. It’s been a tough week, but we haven’t responded yet again. So, there’s going to be a lot of negativity about that. I understand that I apologise to the supporters, but we have to galvanise them now.
“We’ve lost all of the credit that we’ve had in these last three weeks. We’ve got to respond to that. We’re a little bit unfortunate in one or two things not going for us, one or two injuries costing us, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.
“We can’t become victims. We have to respond accordingly. For me, support my players and find a way where we can get our next win.”
Just talking about those frustrations, I can imagine it was particularly annoying when Promise went down early on as well.
“Listen. It’s his calf this time, and I thought that our front three were going to cause them a lot of problems in the first 20 or 30 minutes. The thing is, if we look after that final pass, Promise gets it in, looking after that final pass, and we’re in.
“We did a lot of work on hurting them, obviously a possession-based team on the turnover, looked like we were going to get in and obviously a crazy decision that cost us the game, really to be honest. But I was not happy with the goals we conceded; they were a little bit soft.”
Finally, I know last week it was a slightly different interview, and this week, you’re talking about supporting the players. What does that look like for you going into the future?
“Listen. I’ve tried hitting them with a stick all week, in on Sunday and triple sessions. It’s not for a lack of effort; it’s just that at times, when things are going against you, I feel like there are times where you have to be that real, abrupt, like I was last week with the non-negotiables. But now I see the team lacking a bit of confidence.
“Things are going against us on the pitch, so I’ve got to be supportive. While still not accepting it, I never will. It’s tough, really. Tough for the Gasheads. It’s tough to show my face around Bristol at the minute, but we’ll respond.”
