Richie Smallwood wants his Bristol Rovers team to put things right when they welcome Grimsby Town to The Memorial Stadium in Sky Bet League Two.
The Pirates have lost their previous three fixtures in the fourth tier. However, they probably did not deserve to come away without any points after positive performances against Chesterfield and Oldham on either side of a disappointing outing away to Cambridge United.
Rovers fell behind within 35 seconds against the Latics on Tuesday night through Kane Drummond, but created plenty of chances to level the score before the hosts punished their squandered opportunities through Mike Fondop, who scored from close range after his penalty was saved by Brad Young.
Smallwood made his first start for the Gas against Oldham and felt his team were unlucky to fall to defeat.
"When you’re down at the bottom, things tend to go against you," he said. "We’ve had two penalties against us in the last two games. Arguably, last Saturday was probably a penalty, looking back at it on the footage, but I think it was harsh on Tuesday. Harsh on Joel.
“I think it hit him on the belly before his hand, and the referee can’t see it, I don’t think, from the position. I think it was just a gamble. It is what it is. Those things go against you when you’re fighting for your lives. We’ll put it behind us, and we’ll look forward to Saturday and put it right.”
“Obviously, it’s a results business, and obviously we go out there, try to get the result, and the results are the most important. The performance is still important, but not as important. We put in a good performance before, and obviously, it created enough chances to win the game, but unfortunately, this game doesn’t really work like that, and we didn’t get any points. That’s what this time of the season is all about."
Rovers are back at The Mem this weekend when they face Grimsby, with the Mariners unbeaten in their previous ten outings, winning six and keeping eight.
With teams around the Pirates collecting points in midweek, Smallwood knows the importance of his team getting a positive result on the weekend.
"I think wins at this stage are important and obviously a lot of teams have struggled," said the midfielder. "So, in the first part of the season, it was kind of the same; every win is important.
“If we get on a little run, we can take it further adrift because the teams that are down there obviously are down there for a reason, not being good enough for a large part of the season, and the confidence is not exactly going to be sky high. So, the pressure of fighting relegation is obviously really tough as well. Every win at this stage is massive.”
Smallwood was Rovers' final of nine incoming transfers in the January window, moving on the late hours on deadline day on loan from Tranmere Rovers. The experienced midfielder has enjoyed promotions with Rotherham United, Hull City, Blackburn Rovers and Bradford City in his career and said he had no doubts about the move to the south.
"I jumped at the chance as soon as the manager rang me," he said. "It was a no-brainer. I was just thankful to get it over the line on deadline day. I just knew that I just wanted to come and try and help the team and the club because I know what a great club it is, and obviously, they’re not packing the punches where we need to be at this stage in the season.
“We’re all going to keep fighting, keep turning up, keep churning out the good performances and hopefully the points will come.”
