Joel Senior struggled with injury in his debut season at Bristol Rovers last term and is looking to make up for lost time.
The right-back signed from Morecambe last summer on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year, but only made 19 appearances in Sky Bet League One, starting seven. Senior suffered a significant hamstring tear against Stockport County early in the campaign and missed 14 fixtures through injury before then being absent for the final six fixtures of the term.
However, after plenty of work in the off-season to return to full fitness, Senior has been handed back-to-back starts by Darrell Clarke, where he played the entire game for both fixtures.
Speaking to the media, Senior stated that the last season is now behind him, and he is only looking forward.
“Obviously, last season was not ideal for me at all, starting the season injured, not being able to get a rhythm and getting injured again,” he said. “It wasn’t a good season for me, but that’s behind me now. I need to concentrate on the new season. I am glad to be in the team. I want to help the team move forward and in the defence. I am happy to be in the team and hopefully it can continue and carry on performing.
“Wherever the manager wants to play me, whether it’s a back four or back five, I have played both in my career. I feel like I can perform in both of those positions. Whatever position the manager wants to put me in, I am happy to do a job there.
“I am grateful to play in this team under him and play with these boys and to show the Bristol Rovers fans what I can do after last season, not being my best year and not being good enough on the pitch when I was on it. I just want to show them what I can do and whatever position the manager wants to put me in; I’ll do my best.”
The Pirates have lost the first two games this season in Sky Bet League Two, recently falling to a 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium. Despite starting well, the Gas went two goals down after a brace from Will Davies before Promise Omochere got one back from the penalty spot after the break.
Senior was frustrated with the way Rovers conceded and felt his team should have reacted better to going behind.
“It’s obviously disappointing to come away with nothing from here,” said Senior. “We came into the game with real confidence that we could win, but it has not panned out to be that way. We conceded two sloppy goals in the first half that we needed to put right.
“In the second half, we were by miles the better team and overall, probably the better team, but we came away with nothing. So, it means nothing. We killed ourselves with the two soft goals that we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position in the first place.
“The goals are just really soft. So, when you start well and then it puts you back, we need to bounce back quicker. We can’t let them go again. We need to refocus quickly and get back on the front foot like we were at the start of the game when we started well, but it’s obviously a disappointing afternoon.”
He later added: “Our intensity was really good in the second half, but we couldn’t get that second goal, so it’s still disappointing, but I felt like we showed how good a team we can be. We’ve just got to keep working on that and go onto the next game on Tuesday and show it.”
Despite losing to Fleetwood, there were positives to take from the defeat in Lancashire. Omochere, who suffered two serious injuries last term, got back on the scoresheet for the first time since his strike against Exeter City on Boxing Day.
The forward did well to win a penalty before converting his spot-kick against his former side, with Senior pleased to see him back in the side.
“He’s a very good player,” said the defender. “He’s a goal scorer. That’s what he’s up there to do: to score goals. Obviously, he had a tough time with injuries last year, but when he was fit and on the pitch, he showed what he could do. He’s a real handful, and he’s a good finisher as well.
"When he gets the chances, he’ll put them away, and as a group, we are really happy to have him back scoring goals and back fit.”
Fabrizio Cavegn also made his debut against Fleetwood after signing from Swiss Challenge League side FC Vaduz for an undisclosed fee. After netting 41 goals in 103 appearances in his senior career, Senior is sure the 22-year-old will make an impact for the Gas.
“He made his debut today and looked really sharp,” he said. “There’s no doubt he’ll do well for us and score goals. He’s going to be a handful for defences and is going to be a help for our team. I look forward to playing with him, as does the whole group. It’s just about the group helping him settle in.
“He’s come from a different country. So it might take some time, but as you've seen on the pitch today, he had some really good moments, and he’ll be a good asset for us.”
