Following their 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Crawley Town on Saturday afternoon, Grant Ward has acknowledged that Bristol Rovers “have to be” concerned about their current circumstances.
Kamari Doyle’s goal in the 19th minute was sufficient to give Crawley their first victory in nine games, during which they had fallen 12 points short of safety. With nine currently, their odds of surviving remain low.
Meanwhile, for Rovers it was a missed opportunity to increase their advantage above the drop zone to nine points while their dire away form continued with the loss their 15th from 20 league games on the road this term.
When asked if he is concerned about his team’s post-match status, Ward responded, “I think you have to be [worried],” marking his comeback from a brief injury layoff. You can’t be too at ease at the table and where we are. To win every game, no matter who it is, you must look [at] what is around you.
It’s obviously a difficult one to accept. Not what we had hoped for. They had a little trouble playing throughout the first half. Perhaps a touch too much respect was shown. I felt we played much better in the second half and were unfortunate not to win the game.
We simply needed to put in a little more effort, target them a little harder, and give the media a few more bodies, in my opinion.
I thought we did that early on. I thought they made a few mistakes, ‘keeper kicked a few out and was unlucky not to create a few more chances. But at the end of the day, we weren’t good enough.”
After a terrible first half display, Rovers improved slightly in the second half, coming close to equalising late on when James Wilson was unable to get a header on target.
Nevertheless, with only 11 points gained away from the Mem, it was yet another appallingly bad road performance, which has been a big problem for the Gas all season.
Rovers have stayed above the dreaded dotted line thanks to their home form, and five of their next eight games this season will take place in BS7. For whatever reason, the West Country team has generally performed very differently at home and away.
