Iñigo Calderón insisted that his Bristol Rovers team must improve defensively ahead of the Gas’ game against Peterborough United at The Memorial Stadium.
The Pirates will be looking to return to winning ways after losing 2-0 to Charlton Athletic on The Valley on Tuesday night, with Matty Godden and Josh Edwards scoring in the first half to put the game beyond Rovers. It was the Gas’ second consecutive 2-0 away defeat, previously faltering against Wigan Athletic.
Rovers are back home on Sunday and will hope to repeat their previous success at The Memorial Stadium, last beating playoff pushers Barnsley 3-1. It’s an important game against the Posh, who are only one place and two points above the Gas in the table.
Speaking to the media, Calderón reflected on the previous week and the areas his team needs to improve before moving onto the league table and the upcoming clash against Peterborough.
REFLECTING ON THE LAST WEEK
“We have to defend better,” he said. “I think we conceded two cheap goals, soft goals, I would say, and that killed us. We are in the process of building something good, and I think we are progressing in a lot of things, but still, on the defensive side, we are not at the level we have to be.
“It’s not the goalkeeper and defenders; it’s the whole team. In the first goal the other day, I showed it to the players this morning, and a lot of players were involved in that, so it’s not just trying to blame the defenders. For me, the defending is all the team and attacking is all the team, and we have to defend better.
“We have to defend better because if I remember all the goals we conceded, we have to do a lot of things right to score goals and the opposition at the moment are scoring goals too easily, and that’s not right. We have to stop that first because otherwise, it’s going to be more difficult.”
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS
“For me, it’s always a balance,” said the Spaniard. “When I came here, a priority was especially to control a bit more of the game and to have more of the ball, but not just to score goals. I think by having more of the ball, you have better chances to score, and at the same time, you have to defend for less time.
“But still, you have to defend, and I think we are improving in that. We’re having the ball for more time, but the time we have to defend, we have to defend better because even if you have 90 per cent of the ball and you have to defend 10 per cent of the time, if in that 10 per cent of the time you are still really bad at defending, they are still going to score goals. I'm happy with some things, but defending as a group, we have to improve.”
THE LEAGUE ONE TABLE
“I will look like a bad manager because I don’t know the table,” said the head coach. “I know where we are, more or less, but don’t ask me about how many points we have or who is playing against because I don’t waste time in that. Maybe the last two games of the season, and you are still there, you have to think about these things.”
“For me, at the moment, it doesn't matter because I approach the game the same way if we play against the top four or the bottom four. It doesn’t change anything at all in my week or anything at all in the way we want to play. So, I don’t waste time with that. We have enough things to worry about.”
PETERBOROUGH UNITED PREVIEW
“It is an important game, and I know that they are close to us,” said Calderón. “It’s a massive game. It’s not a final because I said after the [Charlton] game that if we win, we are still there, and if we lose, we still have a chance. It doesn’t change the approach to the games, it’s going to be the same.
“We have to try and win every single game. You especially don’t want to lose against this team that you are fighting, but for me, it doesn’t change the mentality and the way we have to approach the game. It’s trying to do everything possible to win, and if you change the mentality because of the opposition, then you have a problem.”
TEAM NEWS
“I would say it’s the same ones,” he said. “We haven’t lost anyone, so it’s been the same.”
