Darrell Clarke was pleased with Bristol Rovers’ 1-0 victory over Sky Bet Championship team Oxford United, but knows there is still plenty of work to do until the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
The Pirates were looking to conclude their pre-season preparations with a victory to give themselves momentum heading into their Sky Bet League Two opener against Harrogate Town at The Memorial Stadium. With chances few and far between, Micah Anthony delivered the match-winning moment, driving a low strike from inside the box into the bottom corner.
The victory over the U’s was Rovers’ fourth in pre-season after also beating Chippenham Town, Bath City and Yeovil Town, with the Gas’ only defeats coming in tightly contested games against Stockport County and Coventry City.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Clarke was impressed by his team's performance and clean sheet before looking ahead to the next week of training.
So, Darrell, a victory over Oxford United to end pre-season. How do you reflect on that?
“I’m really pleased to win a game away from home against a Championship team. I thought the boys took on board what we wanted to do with them. I thought we were very good without the ball again today, and then we got some of our passing going a little bit.
“There was a bit more control in the game. There were gradual bits of improvement, so I’m pleased.”
There were not loads of chances, but you came away with the victory. Is that something you can take into the season?
“Listen, you’re not going to get loads of chances against when you’re playing against a Championship team. So, it’s always about being patient and being difficult to beat. I thought we were that. I thought we held our line well and competed well. It’s a good workout, but I would be saying the same thing if we had lost the game. Everything starts now to build towards the proper games.”
You must be pleased with a clean sheet as well...
“The clean sheet builds confidence, obviously. We finished the game with a lot of young lads on the pitch as well. So, that’s great to see. A few young lads started the game as well. So, there were some really promising performances from one or two of our young boys, and my senior boys did very well.”
You mentioned a few of the young players there, with there being a few changes from the team that started against Coventry. Was it good to see different players get minutes in their legs?
“That’s the whole thing about pre-season. The pre-season plan is to get minutes into the lads. It’s had to be a controlled pre-season if I am being honest with you.
“There have been lads who missed lots and lots of minutes last season. We are obviously short at the top end of the pitch as well, so we’re just trying to manage the situation as best we can until one or two reinforcements come in.”
Charlie White and Tom English came off the bench for minutes. Does that show the Academy is doing really well?
“I never like to go big too early on academy players because it’s a pre-season game and there’s a lot of work to be done, but the lads did well today. It's just a building block of what they need to do and to build on that.”
It really gets going next week, and that’s when the league starts. You must be excited...
“Not really, but I will be building up to it. We’ve got a week of hard preparation. For me and my staff, it’s getting the work done and getting the work into the boys. It’s a big week on the training pitch, and then we can start looking forward to the start of the season next week.”
