Kofi Balmer wants his Bristol Rovers team to take the positives out of their 1-0 loss to Peterborough United in Round One of the Carabao Cup.
The Pirates got off to a bright start and were looking to start the 2026/27 season with a bang, but could not properly test Alex Bass in the Posh's goal before Harry Leonard broke the deadlock from the penalty spot.
The Gas kept pushing for an equaliser that would have taken the match to penalties, but neither Riley Harbottle, Mees Rijk nor Keenan Gough could convert, with the visitors progressing to the next round.
However, Steve Evans' men more than matched their Sky Bet League One opponents for most of the contest and, on another day, would have been in the hat for Round Two. Speaking to the media after the fixture, Balmer reflected on the match and discussed his return to the Club after signing permanently in the summer.
REFLECTIONS ON THE GAME
“Yeah, it's frustrating. You never want to go out in the first round. First competitive game of the season, you want to start off with a win, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. First 15 minutes, I think we started bright, had them panicking a little bit, and after that we started to give them too much respect, sat back a little bit.
“You could sit here and talk about the ref, a few controversial decisions, but at the end of the day, it's us versus them. They got their penalty and they took it. We didn't take chances. They maybe could have scored more, but it's obviously not the best way to start. We'll try to take the positives out of the game, as much as we can.”
THE PENALTY DECISION
“Yeah, his hand was up. There's no debating that. He said it himself, but he says, how else can you jump? When you jump, your arms go. And he's got a nudge in the back, so his arms have gone up and unfortunately, it’s hit his hand.
“He spoke to the ref, the ref came back and said he wasn't looking at the man. We don't know how you can do that, but at the end of the day, that decision is that decision. We had more than enough chances to get back into the game and we didn't do that. So that's just the way it was.”
THOUGHTS ON PETERBOROUGH UNITED
“Yeah, we knew they're a good team. They pass the ball, their rotations are good, everything about them is good. They're well-drilled—they know what they're doing, so we knew what we were coming up against.
“But at the same time, as you've seen in the first 15 minutes, we're more than capable and we just didn't keep that going, which can't happen. We need to stay on the front foot and pin them in.
“When we have that momentum, we need to punish them. We didn't do that. But all credit to Peterborough, they're a great team.”
NEW FACES SETTLING IN
“Reiss and Keenan came on; they made their debuts today. They've only been in one or two sessions, but I thought they came in well. They're still trying to find their feet and I'm sure they will. They're both great players.
“I think the majority of the team is from last season, so I don't think we can sit and say we've got new faces and we're still trying to gel, because you don't have the time. It has to happen quick.
"We know what we can do and what we should be doing. It just didn't happen for us today.”
CHANCE TO FOCUS ON THE LEAGUE
“You don't want to go out of the cups, but now we just have to park that and look forward to next week.
“The first game of the season is the most important. If you win that, you keep the momentum going and you can go on a good run. As long as we recover well and look at what we can do to beat York, we can do that. If we continue the momentum from last season, we shouldn't have any problems doing that.”
EVANS KEY TO SIGNING PERMANENTLY
“When I came in on loan, I was playing. I've had a manager similar to the gaffer at my first club. He pushes you, can be ruthless with you, but I don't mind that. I'd rather be called out if I'm doing something wrong.
“He's one of those ones who gets you fired up and you want to run through a wall. Because he was playing me and I was enjoying my football, it persuaded me.
“It was something I wanted to do and if I could get back, I would have done it in a heartbeat because I loved playing under him.”
MACAULEY SOUTHAM-HALES
“Oh, he's absolutely amazing. He's one of those players that when the mood's a bit down, he can lift the whole changing room.
“Last season he had his injuries, but he came back into pre-season in great shape, and he's proved what he can do. I think today he was up against a tough winger, and he dealt with him more than enough, and that shows you the kind of player Macca is.”
SUMMER TRANSFER BUSINESS
“I've never been at a club that's made that many signings, but that shows you the pull the gaffer has. People want to play for him. It's good for the squad because there's a lot of depth and healthy competition.
“Everyone wants to play, so it pushes everyone on. That's a good thing going into the new season because the healthier the competition, the more you're going to want to prove yourself and keep pushing.
“If I wasn't in the team, I'd be pushing, and that's going to push the other centre-backs on. Hopefully throughout the season there'll be a lot of rotations, but everyone's more than capable of putting in a shift.”
MESSAGE FOR FANS BEFORE YORK
“Bring the noise and we're going to be up for it.”
