Steve Evans was pleased with Bristol Rovers' performance in their 1-0 loss to Milton Keynes Dons and suggested the better team lost on the night.
The Pirates were looking for a response after back-to-back defeats to Colchester United and Salford City in Sky Bet League Two, but conceded the only goal of the contest in the final moments of the first half.
Callum Paterson struck the winner from close range, punishing the Pirates for their missed opportunities earlier in the contest, with their best of the lot falling to Fabrizio Cavegn, whose one-on-one attempt was pushed away by Craig MacGillivray.
Speaking to BRTV after the match, Evans could take the positives from a good performance against promotion hopefuls MK Dons...
Steve, a difficult defeat to take here. What are your thoughts on it?
“Well, I think comfortably, we were the better side. I think it was more even in the first half. There was a key incident in the first half, when the goal scorer, who was on a yellow, smashed Joel.
“We’ve seen it on the video as well, so it’s clear and obvious. Just a straight red, never mind a second yellow. Both say they never seen anything. That was hard to take, but I thought in the second half, the positives are that we are really good.
“We passed well; we opened them up. We made two or three good chances ourselves to get on the scoresheet. As highly critical as I was of the boys on Sunday and Monday, really critical after Salford. I can only praise them after tonight; their performance was very good.”
A few changes in there. Clinton Mola in a midfield role. What were your thoughts on that one?
“Well, I’ve seen the kid at Chelsea playing there. If people had done their homework, they would have played him in there before, wouldn’t they? I just went back through my notes and then got some private footage sent from Chelsea.
"Thank you to the people at Chelsea for sending that footage. Clinton played there for England as well at the youth level, so I thought he was very good tonight. I mean, Ryan de Havilland bossed the midfield for long spells.”
You mentioned it a bit in the first question, but especially the manner of how the goal was conceded, and it coming just before half-time must be gutting...
“Listen. It was a killer, six minutes added, and it’s seven and a half minutes in. I understand the referee is always the timekeeper, if you like, so that can be harsh. But the goal scorer’s the one who shouldn’t be on the pitch. I think Paul Warnes knows that they have been in a game, but he also knows that his goal scorer shouldn't be on the pitch."
Now, in the second half, you made a few changes, and Yusuf Akhamrich came on. What were your thoughts on his impact on it?
“The kid is five, six days into the football club. I worked really hard to get him, myself, Ricky and the ownership. We worked really hard because there was a queue as long as Milton Keynes itself. People have seen a flash of it tonight. He’s got a lot to bring to the party, and we’re delighted to have got him.”
You never want to lose any game, but could you take positives out of the elements of the performance today?
“Listen. You could have heard me in Bristol in Salford's dressing room after the game. I was not happy. a lack of running, a lack of spirit, a lack of everything. The boys knew I repeated it, and I repeated it to them on Monday. I didn’t have to say anything today. I just said the best team lost the game, and we’ve lost due to some decisions that were atrocious.”
Another player who’s just come through the door is Mees Rijks. What will he bring to the club in the long term?
“The kid trained with us for the first time, for half an hour yesterday, and we’re throwing him on the pitch to try and be the saviour. He was rusty, and I think you could see that.
“I think there’s a header from a corner that he should have headed in, and there’s another one where he cuts inside, he needs to sort his feet out, but he'll be another good player for us. We're bringing better players in, we just need a little bit of luck and one or two decisions."
And finally, three games back-to-back-to-back at The Mem. Is that a real chance to attack these fixtures in front of a home crowd?
"When we play like we did tonight, I'd want to play tomorrow morning. The Gas fans are honest people; they’ll go away absolutely down tonight, but in the same token, I think everyone that I speak to will say the performance was outstanding. They wouldn't have been saying that after Salford, there would have been a lot of questions asked."
