Iñigo Calderón insisted his Bristol Rovers team did enough to beat Shrewsbury Town after the Gas drew 0-0 with the Shrews in Sky Bet League One.
Rovers were looking to end their three-game losing run in the third tier to boost their survival hopes, and after a cagey first half, they had the better chance to win the contest.
Promise Omochere entered the field before the restart to help support Chris Martin and Ruel Sotiriou in the attack, with the Pirates constantly threatening Salop’s defence without breaking the deadlock.
After the game, Calderón was pleased with the performance and the character his side displayed and believes it could be a turning point in their away form.
I think we did enough things to win...
“It was a good game of football,” he said. “I am quite happy with the boys. Obviously, you want to win, and I think we did enough things to win, but I cannot ask too much for the players. I said to the boys at the end, the fans are like a court. They give you the result and what they say, you have to take it.
“Today, I would say the fans are proud of the boys. In the end, that’s what we have to do. We are here for the fans, and at least the ones who came can go home thinking the boys tried everything.
“We have to improve a lot of things, but I am quite happy. Usually, I am not too happy with the draws. I always want to win, and sometimes I take the risk to lose it, but overall, I think it was a good game.”
We just made the change as soon as possible...
“Wardy [Grant Ward] was still not the Wardy I want or the Wardy he was a couple of weeks ago,” said Calderón. “As always, I don’t want to wait too much. You can wait for ten minutes and change that, but sometimes I prefer to change. It’s not because he was bad. We just made the change as soon as possible. I don’t want to wait, and I think he [Promise Omochere] was alright. I think he and Chris Martin were quite good up top.”
When we are in the last third, we need to show more composure...
“When we are in the last third, we need to show more composure and show more quality sometimes as well,” said the Spaniard. “In the end, it is coming from a good place. The boys want to create something and win the game. That’s more up to me. I have to make them see that a bit more clearly, but firstly and more importantly in the passion and the character they showed.”
We conceded a couple of chances that we have to review...
“I think it was a good game. It was the first time that we started with a back three,” he said. “I think we did quite good. I was quite happy with that. Still, we conceded a couple of chances that we have to review because I think we had control of the game, but we still conceded chances.
“That’s the bit we have to improve because I always say when you are under control, you cannot allow that many chances because it can go either way. That’s not right because I think we were better than them for most of the game.”
Away we were not too good...
“Away we were not too good," he said. “We were different away to home and I think it was the turning point today. I think we were much better away. Playing at home is going to be tough. Huddersfield are having a good season, but we are at home, and we have to go back to the Rovers at home that we were before Rotherham because I didn’t like that last game. I am quite optimistic after seeing this performance today.”
I trust in all the players...
“We cannot put him [Omochere] in and not think about him,” he said. “We have to manage him. I trust in all the players we have, and if he can start, good, but if he cannot start, another one will do it.”
