Luke Thomas felt Bristol Rovers fell to a cruel defeat against Notts County but admitted they got punished for not taking their chances against the Magpies on Saturday afternoon.
The Pirates were looking to bounce back after falling to seven straight defeats in Sky Bet League Two and dominated most of the match against Notts, but could not find the back of the net.
Joel Cotterill and Jack Sparkes hit the post in the first half, and Freddie Issaka thundered the bar after the break, with Ellis Harrison also denied twice by Kelle Roos. The Mapgies, who were down to ten men after a red card for Tyrese Hall, then landed the ultimate blow five minutes from time. Matthew Dennis' deflected strike beat Luke Southwood, with the Gas losing to Notts' only shot on target.
Thomas spoke to the media after the game and reflected on the key moments in the contest.
How does that dressing room feel?
“Not good. We’re all down in the dumps in there. It's such a cruel way to lose when we dominated the game like that, but that’s football, and if we aren’t going to take our chances, then we always leave ourselves open for the sucker punch on the counterattack.”
How did the game feel while being in it? From where I was sitting, it looked like Bristol Rovers more or less controlled it.
“I think that we’ve had control over the last few games, but we haven’t created any chances. I think that was totally different today. I thought we had numerous chances and could have been two or three-nil up in that game. I thought we were a way better team when we had 11v11.
“So, whether that would have made a different outcome or not, but still, no excuses, we had the extra man, so we should have been coming out of there winners.”
Does playing against ten often change your decisions or your mindset in certain key moments? Does it change how you play the game, maybe even unconsciously?
“I think so. As I said, we’re probably going to get more time on the ball. As soon as they went down to ten men, I think we changed formation because that would work better for us. It definitely has an impact. Obviously, today, not a good impact. I think we were playing really well when it was 11v11. But like I said, there’s no excuses, we should have won that game comfortably.”
You were in a slightly different role today. Not a different role for you, but it was almost two tens or two attacking players. How did that feel?
“It felt quite good. I felt quite sharp. As I said, in the first 15-20 minutes, I linked up well with Jack Sparkes. Got a good relationship down there that we’ve worked on it all week. Obviously, like I said, but when they go down to ten, it changes the game. I did a few more positions, but I really enjoyed it.”
How does this group pick itself up?
“I think the fans aren’t going to want to hear this, but we’ll have to work even harder in training. We’ll have to get back to work on Monday. There’s one thing for certain: we’re all very determined to turn this around.
“I don’t think anyone is watching this game today and thinking we should lose that; we should come away comfortable winners, but we’re not going to scream and shout about it. We need to get results to back what we’re doing on the pitch.
“But we’ll come back in on Monday and work hard. Tuesday, we’ve got a quick game turnaround, so hopefully onto the next one. We’ve lost eight on the bounce now, so the sooner we can get out there and try and get a winning run, the better.”
You’ve mentioned it. Your manager mentioned it. Putting the ball in the back of the net. It seems to be the thing he’s highlighted today as the difference. How do you change that? What can you do as a group to improve that?
“I think in training. Sometimes, a lot of us are not putting it in the back of the net when we should. I think in training, we’ve got to work on how we play on the football pitch. I'm not saying that is the case, but we’ve got to work in training.”
