Iñigo Calderón stated his Bristol Rovers team have had a good week of training in preparation for the upcoming clash against Rotherham United at The Memorial Stadium.
The Gas return home looking to return to winning ways after losing back-to-back away fixtures to Wycombe Wanderers and Northampton Town in the third tier. The recent defeat to the Cobblers was especially disappointing for Rovers, who had taken the lead through Scott Sinclair before falling to a 2-1 loss.
However, the Pirates will be hopeful of a positive result after some strong form at The Mem, where they have collected ten points and scored ten goals in their previous four outings.
Speaking to the media, Calderón reflected on the recent defeat to Northampton before previewing the game against the Millers and discussed Rovers form at home.
FINAL NORTHAMPTON REFLECTIONS
“Something that we spoke about before the game is that it doesn’t matter what the game looks like. You can still have a problem in the game because I think the game was more or less under control when we were 1-0 up. All of a sudden, we concede a goal and concede a second one, and we lose the game.
“I think it’s important to know that. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are in the game; you have to stay in the game until the last second of the game because I don’t think the goal was coming, but still, they found a way. So, we have to make sure we’re better than that.”
FORM AT THE MEM
“The way we play and the way we perform at home is much better in all the concepts of the game. Defending and attacking has been much better, and we try to do the same in terms of the way we approach the game. The way we do the week, we do the meetings, and we pick the team. Everything is the same. I don’t really see any difference when we play away or at home.
“I always say with the table, it doesn’t matter if they are on the top or the bottom, we always try to face the game the same way, but it’s been happening. The good thing is we play at home, but we have to do better.”
PRESSURE TO WIN GAMES
“It’s going to be like that until the end. It doesn’t matter if we play someone who is with us in the table or they are higher. For me, I don’t change the approach at all. I think you can win games every time.
“We did that against Barnsley, they had good momentum, and we lost the other day against a team that was with us in the table. For me, every game is a chance to get three points. I don’t change anything. The approach, the way I want to play or defend, that doesn’t change the position.”
STRENGTH OF THE LEAGUE
“It doesn't matter how much you watch football or play football in this division before when you are coaching. I think the beauty of this league is that there are a lot of different games and different teams. Some try to play good, other ones try to play more direct. Sometimes they want to be more defensive or physical. I would say every game is a bit different, and that’s really good.
"I think this week is even better for us in terms of the last game being something similar to what we are going to face on Saturday in terms of the opposition. I prefer that as the analysis you do after the game, you can reflect or prepare for the next game, and I think it’s going to be like that on Saturday and even Tuesday.
“They are going to be similar games in terms of the opposition. So, for me, it’s been a good week because we had a long week to train, finally because I would say I needed that, having three of four days to train properly, and we had that. I think we are in a better position to play.”
TEAM NEWS
“They are ready. I think they came back really good from the defeat. I think it was tough to take. I think Saturday was really, really tough because I don’t think anyone was feeling or seeing it coming. So, it was really hard to take, hard to explain. So, Monday was a difficult day at the training ground, but yesterday and today have been much, much, much better. I can see the way we are training. You say I have been here two months if I see the first week and I see now, the quality and the whole team, the training is in a better position. So, for me, that’s really important.
“Ruel Sotiriou is alright. He was not fully convinced that he could keep going, so we took the decision to change him, but he’s been alright. He trained fully fit today.”
ROTHERHAM UNITED PREVIEW
“With his [Steve Evans’] teams, you are not going to have too many surprises. We know how they are going to play. As I say, it’s good as we can plan for that. At the same time, sometimes it doesn’t matter if you are in control of the game. They can put the ball in the box, any throw-in is going to be in the box, and everything is going to be in the box. We have to be prepared for that, to deal with the second balls better than we did against Northampton. I think it was something we didn’t do too good.”
