For Rhys Carr, the objective at Bristol Rovers is simple. He wants the Gas to win every game they compete in, whilst improving at the same time.
It has been a successful pre-season for the Pirates, who have collected three wins from their four fixtures as they edge closer to the start of the 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two campaign.
Rovers' most recent triumph came against National League outfit Yeovil Town, where Darrell Clarke's men came from behind to beat the Glovers 2-1, thanks to goals from Kofi Shaw and Luke Thomas.
However, the game was not all about matters on the pitch. All profits from the match will be donated to Marcus Stewart to support him in his courageous battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
Speaking to BRTV after the game, Carr was delighted that the footballing community came together to raise awareness about such an important cause before discussing Rovers' comeback victory.
First of all, Rhys, we always talk about football, but today is more than that, as it was the Match For Marcus. How nice is it that football can come together on occasions like this?
“Of course, it’s really, really important. It’s a really important cause and is something that a lot of us hope we don’t have to deal with in our lifetime. So, to be able to raise awareness and money, that’s something that football can do beautifully. It was nice to see both clubs pull together for that moment just before kick-off as well."
Over 500 Gasheads were here today. That must have been great to see...
“It is, and they’ll make a difference to us up and down the whole country for the whole year. It’s appreciated. We know because we travel it as well. We know that it takes time. People have to leave work early, and it costs a lot of money, but the support is hugely appreciated."
It was a 2-1 win over Yeovil today. What did you make of the performance?
"We’re pleased because we want to win games of football. Every single game we compete in, we want to win. There are certainly areas we want to improve as well, but we’ll take away the positives. Every game, as staff, we’ll come together, we’ll review it, we’ll debrief it with the players, and we’ll keep nipping away to try and make little areas better so that it all comes together in the next game, too."
One of the positives today was Kofi Shaw after a goal and an assist. What impact do you think he can have?
"He did great, didn’t he? He’s very energetic, he can cover the ground for us, he’s an attacking-minded midfielder, and ultimately, they get judged on goals and assists, and he’s come up with both today.
"I think until he stuck that one in the top corner with his left foot, we’re probably all thinking that perhaps he should slide it to the runner. But he’s got that quality to stick it into the top corner and then the assist as well, it’s a good performance from him."
Ollie Dewsbury made a similar impact in Spain. We don’t want to put too much pressure on the young players, but how good is it to see that they can make an impact in games?
"It’s brilliant. They are getting opportunities, and when they get opportunities, it’s important that they take them. Again, it’s with everything, Ollie has got a lot to learn, and he’s got a lot to develop, but we, as a coaching staff, we’ve had the conversations with Ollie.
"We’ll provide him with that environment to try and get the best version of him that we possibly can. He’ll keep learning, he’ll keep performing, and again, we’ll keep nipping away at the bits we think he can be better at as well."
We always talk about the changes on the pitch, but there have been plenty off it as well. How have you settled into the new coaching unit?
"I’ve settled in brilliantly and almost seamlessly, really. I think in any job in life, whatever industry it’s in, it makes the days easier if you get on with the people that you're working with. It seems to have clicked on a personal level, but ultimately, we’re here to do a professional job for the Football Club as well, and that’s what we try to do every single day.
"It’s long hours that go into every single day, and you end up spending a long time together and get to know people better. It does help when you all get along as well."
Four games into pre-season, are you starting to learn about the players you've got?
"We do our research before going into any job, and there are a few individuals in the squad that I have worked with before, but you will learn and will continue to learn. We’ve got two tough games coming up next week, two very, very tough games. So, the level of challenge will go up as well. So, we’ll keep learning and keep nipping away to try and improve."
There are only a matter of days until we play Coventry. How excited are you to have a real challenge and see a former team of yours as well?
"It will be nice to see some familiar faces, of course, but again, we go into every game wanting to win. The level of challenge will be different. We’ll have to come up with different solutions for what they are going to throw at us, but it’s about doing a job for Bristol Rovers now. It’s about trying to be successful this year and going forward. So, I’m looking forward to that."
