Inigo Calderon has insisted that Bristol Rovers’ battle to achieve League One survival will remain a “marathon” for the final 13 games after a damaging 3-2 home defeat to Rotherham United but admitted that the weakest sides “will go down.”
The Gas cruised into a dream start as Ruel Sotiriou finished from a tight angle after just five minutes but their response to taking the lead was disappointing as Rotherham eventually found an equaliser before half-time via Sam Nombe.
They then took the lead early into the second half as Zak Jules headed in from a corner, prompting Calderon to make a triple substitution and a formation change.
That subsequently worked as Sil Swinkels headed in a cross from substitute Luke Thomas to equalise but Rovers failed to defend a needlessly given away free-kick in added time, from which Nombe scored a sickening winner.
Following Burton Albion’s 1-1 draw at home to Mansfield Town, the Gas’ advantage above the relegation zone has been cut to just two points ahead of a crucial game away at bottom side Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.
“For me, this is a marathon,” Calderon insisted post-match. “It’s not going to change if you win or lose today. Obviously, it’s important but it’s not the end of the world.
“You have to keep calm in terms of don’t get crazy but at the same time you have to understand that we are in [a] relegation [battle] and it’s going to be a matter of everyone staying together and obviously doing things better than that.
“But it’s a long one. I’ve been saying that since I came here. Even when we won a couple of games at home, I said that we are going to stay there for a long time. I cannot change that. I cannot lose my head now. So I try to be calm. I try to know the things that we have to try to improve. That’s the only way.
“That, for me, is important,” the Rovers head coach added on the mentality his team now need to show. “It’s going to be about that. We are [down] there. The weakest one is going to go down. Simple as that and you can take it or not. If you are weak, you will go down. You have to be strong. It’s not easy.
“Tonight is going to be a long night. Tomorrow is going to be a difficult Sunday for us and it’s not going to be easy to play these games because there’s going to be less and less left so the pressure is going to be bigger. So that’s why you have to be really strong because if you’re weak, you will go down. Simple as that.”
It was a dream start from the Gas as Sotiriou scored his third goal in five home games but their failure to build on what was a poor start from the visitors frustrated the home crowd.
Rotherham then saw most of the ball for the remainder of the first period, mainly in Rovers’ half, and eventually scored a deserved equaliser as Nombe tapped home from a yard out.
However, for the second time in a row, the Gas ended up losing a game in which they had taken the lead following last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Northampton Town, making it three defeats in a row.
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“The last two games have been difficult to take,” Calderon reflected. “I would say especially after the second one. I think it was a key moment when they got the second one and we found a way to get back into the game. I was thinking that I’m not really a friend of the draws. I prefer to always try to get the win but obviously after losing I would have taken the point. We couldn’t even get that.
“I think we defended alright but when you have to defend 25 times, there’s going to be two or three that you’re going to miss because that’s stats, and then they’re going to have the chance to score. That was the corner, that was the free-kick at the end so it’s how you can try to avoid them to have that many because if he makes the decision to put the ball in the box, you have to deal with that. So we have to do better, simple.
“The second half, I didn’t like how we started. I don’t think it was good and the goal was coming for me. I hate that, you know, because sometimes you can’t stop that from happening even if you change things. I was thinking about changing even before they scored but you always think that the players are going to find a way to change.
“[It was a] good reaction after that but, again, after scoring the second one maybe the game was a bit dead and I don’t think it helped us because I think we have to be in more control of the game.”