Matt Taylor made no excuses for his Bristol Rovers side after Saturday’s disappointing showing at Lincoln City.
The Gas fell to a 5-0 defeat at the LNER Stadium as the in-form Imps continued their unbeaten run in League One at Rovers’ expense.
Joe Taylor’s hattrick for the hosts was sandwiched between Paudie O’Connor’s opener and Reeco Hackett’s late finish, in a match which also saw Ethan Erhahon sent off for two bookable offences for Lincoln.
Rovers were not without their chances, though, as Chris Martin, Jevani Brown and Sam Finley all went close before Antony Evans missed from the penalty spot, unfortunately slipping at the crucial moment.
All together, it spelt a frustrating afternoon for manager Taylor, who reiterated his demands of his players in his post-match interview…
We started the game so poorly.
There were some diabolical moments and we were 3-0 down after a short amount of time. We didn’t seem ready for that, in terms of the speed of the game. The script was set in terms of what to expect from the opposition and we just couldn’t match it.
Look at the chance we created.
That is the madness of that game. I think we had 13 chances compared to their eleven and I would say five of them are good opportunities, ones we should score from.
We’ve said so many times about a team who look good at creating, but we didn’t score them.
We can look like a good footballing team at times but you need to do the basics of defending, do the fundamentals of football and run a bit harder, everything you need before the skill moments. If you do that, those skill moments can come.
In terms of their goals, it’s diabolical defending, but that’s my responsibility.
I’m the one who coaches and trains these players and, young or old, whatever their situation is, they are still my responsibility and what I ask from them is personal pride in their performance. Today was too poor of a showing for me to accept.
People will watch the goals and the highlights tonight, and I would always advise people to watch the two minutes beforehand.
It is incredible the positions we put ourselves in. It’s so frustrating because I want us to be a certain type of team first before we then play the short, sharp passes which we’re known for.
We’re now into an international break.
It’s probably a positive in terms of where some of their bodies are. They might need a bit of time away and then, when they come back, hopefully the lads can be available.
It was great to see Brandon Aguilera back on the pitch, with a cameo performance towards the end of the game. And hopefully Josh Grant and Grant Ward aren’t too far behind. We’ve got four lads on international duty so we’ll be watching how they get on.