Joel Senior stated Bristol Rovers cannot dwell on defeat after the Gas lost 2-0 to Wigan Athletic in Sky Bet League One.
The Latics scored either side of half-time to claim their first home victory since November, with James Carragher planting a downward header past Josh Griffiths inside six minutes before Jonny Smith doubled their lead in the second half.
It was a disappointing defeat for Rovers, who went into the game in high spirits after back-to-back wins in the third tier against Cambridge United and Barnsley.
Reflecting on the game, Senior was disappointed with the defeat to Wigan and admitted conceding early on in the contest made it difficult for his side.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating,” he said. “We didn’t start the game good enough. We conceded early on, and then we’re always on the back foot. I didn’t feel like there was much in the game, but me personally and the team, we didn’t progress up the pitch quickly enough, find that right pass or finish the chances that we did have, which obviously left us disappointed on the day.”
He later added: “I feel like we had some good opportunities in the game, but they have taken their set-piece, which is a frustrating goal to concede. I don’t feel like they’ve had many chances on the day, but when they’ve had the chances, they’ve put them away.
“They’ve come away with the win in the end, and it’s made us come away with a loss. It’s frustrating, but if we can tighten up at our end and be a little bit brighter on the ball, I feel like days like today, we win the game.”
Rovers started the day only one place and two points behind Wigan and would have been confident of securing a positive result, but the slow start proved costly. The Pirates are seven points above the relegation zone, with Senior aiming for an immediate response against Charlton.
“They are not six-pointers, but they are obviously big games where we want to win and need to win,” he said. “We understand the position that we are in as well. We know what we need to do to win the game, but when we are out there, it’s down to us, and we’ve not been able to do that today.
“We can’t lose any confidence over this. We have got to go again on Tuesday. There’s a game again in three days, and we’ve got to hopefully put on a performance and win the game on Tuesday.
“We can’t dwell on this game. We’ll review it on Monday. We’ve got to be confident going into the game on Tuesday. There’s always a game in a few days in football. We know it’s going to be a tough game, but we’ve got to come prepared, be confident and hopefully go and win the game.”
Rovers fell to a defeat against the Latics, but there were signs of improvement under new head coach Iñigo Calderón, who is looking to implement his style on the squad.
Senior started his first game in League One of 2025 and insisted that the team is improving under his leadership.
“We are 100 per cent progressing,” said the right-back. “You can see out on the pitch that we have more of the ball, we’re conceding fewer chances, and we understand the game better, but it’s down to us. He gives us the tactics to go and win the game, but it’s down to us. We’re on the pitch, and we know what we’re doing going into each game.
“It just feels like today, we didn’t quite execute the plan well enough, but I feel like we’ll progress. We’re definitely a team that’s good enough to push up the table, and I feel like we will.”
