Steve Evans insisted the Bristol Rovers squad have set the standard ahead of the Gas' final pre-season fixture at The Memorial Stadium.
The Pirates will welcome Sky Bet Championship side Portsmouth to BS7 on Saturday afternoon, in what will be Rovers' toughest test yet. The Gas beat National League South teams Weston-super-Mare and Salisbury before facing former Premier League champions Leicester City on Tuesday night.
In two hour-long fixtures, split into 30-minute halves, Ellis Harrison's leveller ensured the first match ended level before the Gas lost the second contest 1-0. However, the Pirates more than matched the Foxes and will take plenty of confidence into the weekend.
Speaking to BRTV before the contest, Evans reflected on pre-season so far before looking ahead to Pompey, whom he has great respect for.
Steve, how has pre-season been so far?
“Pre-season has been good. The boys are working really hard. They have come back in relatively good shape, anyway. After Pompey tomorrow, we’ll move it forward to a sharpening-up process, rather than an endurance process. It’s been really good.”
They are some new faces in the squad. How have they settled in?
“They have settled in really well. We’ve got the hardcore of a really good group, and when you bring the likes of Smallwood, Balmer and people like that back to the Harbottles that we’ve brought in, they are such good professionals.
“You add Ellis Harrison to that and Quigley; they drive the standards within the dressing room, and you’ve just seen Tommy Leigh, who is getting players fined for a minute late with food. The standards have been set, and the boys are going to carry them on, which is really good.”
There is depth across the squad, but we’ve seen from the pre-season friendlies that the attack is starting to gel together.
“I think so. I think we’ve tried to mix and match the pre-season games and mix and match the personnel. That will continue against Pompey tomorrow, and it will continue against Forest Green. They will probably be on the pitch a bit longer tomorrow; the starting 11 will probably stay on there for quite a period, and then we’ll reverse that for Forest Green on Tuesday.
“Then of course we’ll see what we’re doing next weekend, but they’ll certainly be a game of some description, and then we’ll go to God's country, we’ll go to my country. We did ever so well in the World Cup for ten minutes. We’ll have two really good games up there against a Scottish Premier League side and a slightly younger side with three or four experienced players from the Championship, after having just come down. We’re really looking forward to that.”
Pre-season is about performance and minutes. How have you found the games so far?
“It’s been really good. It’s been different because it was nice to get on a decent surface. Credit to Weston, the surface was as good as a football league club and credit to everyone down there. Against Salisbury, the pitch was a little bit dry and a little bit rotted in patches. We told the players before the game to be careful on every step they take.
“Then we had a really good experience playing against a really experienced and good Leicester side. There are some really talented boys in there, with lads two years ago who were playing in the Premier League. That was a little test for us, where we think we acquitted ourselves really well. Of course, I think John Mousinho will have all of his players here tomorrow in a really experienced Pompey side. It’s a true test for us, really, because we’re not on our third weekend, they’re in their third weekend, and it’s a type of fixture that will tell us a lot.”
How much have you learned so far in terms of fitness, players, performances and all of those different things?
“It’s who can mix with who. Football comes in a shape of a team, but it also comes in permutations. Who can play with each other? Who compliments each other? Who naturally compliments each other? Who needs more work to put those compliments together? We’re in a really good place that way.
So, the group is certainly not finished Two or three will leave the group and two or three might come in. We’re working really hard. I had a brilliant meeting with our chairman the other day and two or three other members of the board. That recruitment process has gone down very well but we’vegot to get the right ones in now, not just any player. We’re targeting certain individuals.
Portsmouth has been a solid Championship in the last two years. That will be a test, especially because it is the last game at The Mem until the competitive season starts.
“I have got a lot of credit for Pompey. It’s a club that every football fan in the country, unless you’re a Southampton fan or a rival to Portsmouth, has an affinity for and what their supporters are all about.
“We’re similar at a lower level in terms of where we are in the structure now. But they have a good manager who has done a really solid job there. They have a good director of football; I know them really well and some good people. We’re really pleased with this fixture because you can imagine the number of clubs that would want to get Pompey in their pre-season programme, so we’re fortunate.”
After such a strong end to last season, is the good feeling and momentum still in the group?
“It’s still there, and it’s there in the city. I keep saying the city is blue, and if we have a good season, it will be completely blue for a while. It’s really interesting: the two Bristol clubs have been in transition, but momentum started towards the backend of January, and it’s kept going.
“The spirit in the camp is good. It’s not just about the players; it’s about the ground staff in the training ground, it’s the catering staff, it’s about the staff who come up from the stadium to help us. Kofi Balmer summed it up when he said, ‘gaffer, we’re creating a family here ', and he couldn’t have said it any more accurately.”
