Iñigo Calderón insisted Bristol Rovers’ upcoming game against Lincoln City will be a ‘challenge’ ahead of Gas’ trip to the LNER Stadium on Saturday.
The Gas will be searching for their third successive victory in Sky Bet League One after beating promotion hopefuls Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers in their last two outings, with both of the triumphs coming at The Memorial Stadium to help Rovers increase the gap between themselves and the relegation zone to nine points.
The Pirates have been purring at home under Calderón but have found form more difficult to come by on their travels. The Gas are without a win on the road since beating Cambridge United 1-0 at the start of 2025 but will take some confidence from their last away performance, where they drew 0-0 with Shrewsbury Town.
Speaking to the media, Calderón reflected on Rovers’ home win against Bolton and praised Kofi Shaw and Chris Martin before previewing the game against the Imps.
REWARDING PERFORMANCES
“Especially with the results, I think you can see more clearly. But for me, I would say even before that, and that’s important. When you don’t even win but still think that the process is happening. Even Shrewsbury away was quite key because I liked what I saw in the dressing room after the game, and during the game, and in difficult circumstances.
“I’ve been saying that for a long, long time. I know I repeat it all the time we have too many interviews. But it was a long-time thing for me. You cannot expect to get the payback or the results so early. So, it’s a long marathon for me. I think we are still running that marathon. It’s not a sprint for me. But still, especially in the feelings from what I see with the players, I’m quite happy with everything.”
PLENTY OF WORK LEFT TO DO
“I spoke to the boys this morning, and it’s important because, in four days, everything has changed a little bit in terms of the table because it was Saturday and Tuesday. All of a sudden, we are better, but still, that can change as well.
“For me, it’s really, really important that we don’t think it’s done because it’s not done. We haven’t finished anything yet. We’re still there. Obviously, it’s better than one week ago, but it could be a big, big mistake if we think we are safe already because we are not.”
ATMOSPHERE IN THE DRESSING ROOM
“I know the culture here is to talk about after the games with the boys, but sometimes it is better not to talk too much. After Rotherham, I could see the atmosphere was not great, especially because we conceded right at the end. Yesterday was just the opposite. We scored at the end, and it always brings something extra to the feeling of the boys. Especially against a good team and the way we did it, I think for me it was the best game. Probably not in the way we played technically or tactically, but in terms of football-wise, it was the best game because probably it was against one of the best teams I think we have played this year.
“I am exhausted. I am so tired, and I am not playing. Some of the players have been playing 90, 90, and 90 and they still perform. Credit to them.”
CONCEDING FROM SET PIECES
“It hurt. Especially in the first half, I think they were better than us. I think we were a bit on the backfoot when we scored, and they were much better than us. So, the last thing you want when that happens is to concede from a set piece because, in theory, it doesn’t matter how you are [playing] in the game.
“At the same time, if you see any highlights of League One, I would say half of the goals are coming from set pieces, and even we scored the last one from a set piece. So, we cannot get crazy about that because I think it’s a theme in this division. Obviously, we will try to stop that, but I think we have been doing that since I came here. Sometimes, it’s working better, and sometimes not.
“It’s small margins. It's not that we are a disaster or all of a sudden, we are great. We always try to be similar. It’s true that as soon as we make a small mistake in the positioning or how we approach the set piece, as soon as we make a small mistake, they are punishing us. That’s the room to improve, and we have to do it.”
A BRACE FROM CHRIS MARTIN
“I didn’t see that coming after Shrewsbury because he couldn’t play against Huddersfield, and then you don’t expect that he’s going to be scoring two goals in the next game. But he tried to get back to training to get back fit again, so I am pleased for him because the strikers are special. They need to score goals, and he’s contributing a lot to the team, and obviously, scoring goals is the best thing he can do for us.”
KOFI SHAW'S CONFIDENCE
“I want to highlight his confidence, and that’s great. At that age, to have confidence because I always say we have doubts about playing or not because of the age. You have doubts about how he’s going to play because of his age. Now we are talking about how he can play that good. Sometimes, we have to forget about that because, with the same age, you can be really, really different to someone else.
“I was really happy with him because I think he has been waiting for his chance, working hard and asking questions again and again and again and not playing. I think it was against Wycombe; he played ten or fifteen minutes and did really well. After he didn’t play, he didn’t complain. He kept training and training, and that’s the way you have to do it. He showed us he can start a game. I don’t think he’s going to start every single game from now until the end of the season, but he proved that he’s a good player.”
LINCOLN CITY PREVIEW
“We’ve been talking about that [away form] for a long time, and that’s why after Shrewsbury, I was quite happy and was quite pleased with the team because overall, I think we did a good game in difficult circumstances. For us and for them, it was a tough battle. For me, it was the turning point of the momentum because we lost three in a row.
“We knew that we had to change that away form. So, that game for me was really, really important, and after the two games, you want to bring that. I see that as a challenge as well because we know Lincoln are good at set pieces. So, we have two challenges. We have to deal with the set pieces, and we’ll have to do it away from home.”
LOOKING FOR THREE STRAIGHT WINS
“It shows how difficult the division is if you haven’t been able to win three games in a row because it is really, really difficult to win every single game. So, we’ll have to value a lot what we did in the last week, but we cannot stop now because we still have things to do, and we have to do it as soon as possible.”
TEAM NEWS
“I think it’s the same. Gatlin O’Donkor and Romaine Sawyers are getting closer. I don’t know about this weekend, but I think they are getting closer. They are having some training sessions with the group, so I will say they are the two closest to coming back to the team.”
