Inigo Calderon has admitted that he would ideally like to have more time in between matches ahead of Bristol Rovers ‘ trip to Cambridge United on Saturday lunchtime with kick-off scheduled less than 72 hours after the first whistle blew in their 3-2 defeat to Leyton Orient on New Year’s Day.
The new Bristol Rovers head coach officially started work on December 27, having witnessed his new team in action from the stands at Exeter City on Boxing Day, and has already taken charge of two matches against Stevenage and Leyton Orient.
That has offered limited opportunities to work on the training pitch with a significant part of the time in between matches dedicated towards recovery while Rovers have already lost two key players in Kamil Conteh and Promise Omochere since Calderon took charge to injuries caused by the hectic schedule.
Next up for the Gas is undoubtedly their biggest game of the season so far away at fellow strugglers Cambridge on Saturday as they head into the second half of the campaign.
The U’s currently sit second-bottom and five points off safety while Rovers’ situation remains incredibly precarious with the Gas two points clear of the relegation zone having played one game more than Crawley Town in 21st.
Discussing this weekend’s trip to the Abbey Stadium, Calderon said: “Even less [time], no? But listen, half 12, that was a good thing. I said to the boys, the good thing with football is that you don’t have to wait too much. In the Olympics you have to wait four years to get the next one. We have two days.
“I would like a little bit more [time]. Maybe like two or three days to prepare more but listen, no excuses. Solutions.
“I don’t think it’s the best when you have so many games when you start as a coach because you cannot train,” the Spaniard added. “But at the same time, that gives you chances to a lot of players to get involved and this has been the case. In the last two games I think we’ve played 16, 17, 18 players. So that’s really good.
“I think it’s an example. [Grant] Wardy is an example that we have more players that are ready to play and that’s really, really good because we are going to need everyone.”
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Although Rovers have picked up just one point from their last seven league games, there were plenty of positives to take from their unfortunate home loss against Orient.
The Gas created a number of good chances and scored multiple goals in a league game for the first time since their 3-1 win over Burton Albion three months ago.
It offered encouragement that progress is being made as Calderon seeks his first win in charge as soon as possible with the Spaniard now having half of the entire league schedule to turn the Gas’ fortunes around. However, results will have to improve sooner rather than later with Saturday’s game offering both teams a good opportunity to put an end to their drab recent form.
“When you’re in a bad run, it’s because you create a bad run and that’s coming most of the time because you’re doing things badly and sometimes it’s because you give up or sometimes because you are not performing,” the Rovers boss exclaimed. “But when you are in a bad run it’s because you did something bad. Simple as that.
“So we had to change that and I think we are doing it and I’m quite positive with that.”