Bristol Rovers host Burton Albion tomorrow afternoon in another massive game down the bottom end of the League One table as the Gas look to open up a wider gap between themselves and any relegation threat.
Rovers are currently five points clear of the bottom four with 17 games to go while Burton still occupy a position in the relegation zone but are now just four points from safety are a run of much-improved form.
Inigo Calderon’s side are currently enjoying a good run at home, taking seven points from the last possible nine with Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with play-off contenders Stockport County widely seen as an excellent result.
The hope will be that Rovers can once again take advantage of being on home turf. Here is a full transcript of everything the Gas head coach said to local media ahead of another big game in BS7…
How important do you think that equaliser could be just to continue the momentum at the Memorial Stadium?
Yeah, I think it’s important to stay in that momentum as long as possible. Even not winning the game, but still fighting until the end and getting the result. It was really important because, especially being at home, that gives us, you know, next time that we are losing, we’re still thinking, ‘okay, we can do it.’
It’s not easy when you are down in the score to get back. So I think it was important to be at the very last minute of the game because, as I say, the games are so long and you have to stay in the game somehow and as well, finding the way with a set-piece, I think it’s something that we were missing before. It was good for the boys.
Is it a sign of the progress? If that game with Stockport was on December 28, is it a game you might have lost?
Probably yes. I think we have the examples not that long. I would say even the game against Wigan, the game against Charlton, when we conceded, we collapsed a little bit. And it’s normal as well because, I’ve been saying this probably too much already, when you are down, it’s not an easy sport to play.
Mentally it affects you more than when you are in a good run. But yesterday, as I say, even just after we conceded the goal, I think we have a chance. So the reaction was there from the team.
As I said yesterday, probably there was a moment in the game that was not great for us because probably they were doing the things they wanted. But listen, it’s going to be long, this thing. Funny thing, I’m happy with the team, but we are still there and I’ve been saying for a long time that we are going to be there for a while. But we have to make sure that we don’t lose the focus on staying things right.
Presumably you signed Sil to keep out the goals, not to score them, but I know he was buzzing to score for Bristol Rovers on his debut. How hard has he got to work to start games having joined the club from Aston Villa?
I think I said yesterday that sometimes it’s unfair for the defenders because you don’t change them too much. There has to be something really bad to change but the problem at the same time when you get into the team, maybe you don’t go out from the team.
As I say, when you’re a winger, a striker, you always have chances during the game. When you are a defender, sometimes you don’t have a minute or sometimes you are even out of the squad, but the next game you can be in the starting 11.
So for defenders, it’s a little bit different to the ones. For Sil, I think it’s important for him that goal yesterday. I think it is always good for a new player coming to a club. So happy for him.
And it was good to see Jed Ward back in a Rovers shirt and play well. Is it nice for you as a head coach to have competition for places? It’s not an assumption that Jed will start every game.
Yeah. I think with Myles as well and we talked a bit with Matt, we have three good goalkeepers and I think it’s good for them that they compete for the role, for the position in the team but in a good way and I can see that in the three of them. I think it’s important.
As I said yesterday, we picked Jed because he was already in the team before. He knows the club and the Mem so it was a bit easier for him to start and to be fair I think he was really, really good and I think we could see how comfortable was with the team and the team with him. So I think it’s really important.
In terms of team news, did everyone get through the game yesterday okay?
Yes. Everything was alright.
Because you talked about Gatlin O’Donkor being out for a while. Shaq [Forde], how long before he’s back in action?
No, he will be, I cannot say now but he’s fit now to play. Obviously, maybe yesterday was a bit too early for him but I would say he’s in contention for Saturday. I don’t know to the squad, to the starting 11, to the bench but I think now he’s fit.
And you’ve shown with Jack Hunt that patience is a virtue and players will get an opportunity. Only because I’ve just seen Jevani Brown. He’s back from his loan spell. Is he a player that could feature for Bristol Rovers this season?
Listen, everyone that is with us, they have a chance. As I say, Hunty was the perfect example. He was not even in the squad and all of a sudden he was starting and now he’s played two games in a row.
So as I say, for me, I have to be conscious of what I say and I think I say that everybody has a chance here and it doesn’t matter if you are out of the squad, if you keep training, maybe you can be on the starting 11.
That’s not normal. Usually it’s a process out of the squad, bench and starting 11 but some positions are sometimes like that. It’s not a problem.
Now you don’t look at league tables, but you’ll know about Burton where they are in the league table. How important is Saturday’s game?
Yeah, I don’t know how they are. I know they are with us down there but it’s a massive one, I think. It’s the same as it was against Peterborough. I don’t want to say it’s a final because it is not, because even if you win you have to play a lot more games. But at the same time, if you lose you have more games to play.
But obviously when you play games against teams that are with you in that table. I think you say here it’s a six-pointer. In Spain we say seven points. So they’re important ones. But as I say, being at home, I’m quite confident that the team is going to keep showing the same face.
And how important are the supporters? I was in the studio listening to our commentary last night and I just noticed how the supporters, even in the 85th, 86th minute were still cheering, encouraging your players and maybe helped you get the pull over the line.
Yeah we are playing better at home. I think the players feel the support of the fans. I think the fans, they see that the team is doing everything possible to get the results. So, you know, therefore they are there.
So I think the connection between the fans and the team is perfect. I think it’s in a good place at the moment and that’s really, really important because we have a lot of games at home and if we can make our home like a fortress, it should be great for us.
Michael Reindorf won the free-kick for the goal on Tuesday night. What were the attributes of his that attracted him to yourself?
Well, it was something similar to Gats. He can play as a striker but sometimes he can play a bit on the left. I think, as I say, he’s quite similar to Gats. When the option came, having Gats injured, I think it was the best, not change, but addition for the team.
He’s quite, as I say, direct, but at the same time he can drop to get the ball, he’s alright with the ball and feet, he can score goals but maybe he’s not just a number nine.
I like these players that can play in different positions because as a coach that gives you chances to move the team without moving the players, so I think it’s great for us.
How much work will be needed with him? Because rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, with Gatlin out and Promise [Omochere] still out as well, there will be pressure and expectation on him as a striker to score goals.
Yeah. But at the same time, as you say, he has to add things to the team and for example, as you said, the free-kick was coming from one of his actions. So for me, I don’t want to put pressure on the striker.
I know that the strikers are different to the rest. They need the goals to feel the confidence. But for me it’s not just about that. It’s about how much you can add to the group. I think Tuesday was a great example for that.
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I remember you saying when you first came in that there was some work that needed to be done on fitness and it was almost like pre-season in the middle of the season. How much work has been going into that because your team certainly look fitter?
Yeah, we’ve been doing, especially that’s why we changed as well the week plan and we’re training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday because that gives us an extra day to work harder and on Tuesday and Wednesday we are doing some extra work, physical work because, as I say, I don’t think we were as fit as I wanted. Now I think we are fitter.
The good thing is now you can rely. You have the report one hour after the game so now you cannot hide from that. I was lucky when I was playing, it was not that much but now you cannot hide.
You now have the video, you have the report so everything is recorded in there. So I think it’s good for us.
You noted on Tuesday that you were possibly more happy actually with the first half performance than the second half. How much is that the next kind of step for this group in terms of development to extend their good spells from maybe a 30 minute, 40 minute spell in the first half to 60, 70 and closer to 90?
Yeah, well, to be fair, I think Tuesday was more because of them. I think you have to give credit to the opposition as well.
I think there were other days, Wigan or Charlton, I think we were the ones to blame. Tuesday, I think it was more the opposition they showed why they are up there in the table and they dictated the tempo that they wanted.
So as I say, I don’t think it was just us. Yes, probably we could do better, but as I say, sometimes you have to accept that you’re playing against a good opponent.
But I think it’s perfect if we have to try to stay longer in the game and it doesn’t matter what happens, we have to keep doing the things right because in football anything can happen, good or bad, you have to stay in the game. And, as I said before, at the beginning, scoring that last goal, that gave us more reason to stay until the last minute of the game.