Luke Thomas admitted he is enjoying his football under Iñigo Calderón after Bristol Rovers beat Burton Albion 3-1 in Sky Bet League One.
The winger netted his second goal of the season to put the Gas ahead with only three minutes left to play after Fabio Tavares came off the bench to cancel out Chris Martin’s opener.
Rovers substitute Isaac Hutchinson then doubled the Pirates' lead in the final seconds to confirm all the points, with the Gas collecting their third home win in four outings in the third tier.
Thomas was pleased with Rovers’ first-half performance against the Brewers and the reaction to Burton’s equaliser.
“In the first half, we were well in control,” he said. “We probably should have been a couple more goals ahead, but Burton have shown with their recent results that they are really good on the break, and they just caught us. We lost shape a little bit, but the second half was a bit different.
“They changed shape and made it harder for us. Thankfully, after the equaliser, we bossed the game after that.”
With just minutes of normal time left to play, Chris Martin got onto Lino Sousa’s cross from the left and flicked a header back to Thomas, who raced away from his marker and finished low past Max Crocombe.
It was Thomas’ second goal under Calderón, with his first coming in Rovers’ 1-0 away victory against Cambridge United. That was also a crucial moment, with his header against Garry Monk's men confirming the Spaniard's first win as the Gas’ head coach.
Reflecting on his goal, Thomas was delighted to get on the scoresheet and praised Calderón, who he believes has given the squad a boost in belief.
“It felt really good,” said Thomas. “I said to my mate earlier that I was going to score a 90th-minute winner and take my top off. I did that but didn’t quite go through with taking my top off. It felt really good, and I needed it.
“It’s my sort of formation in the way he wants to play football. Possession, that’s what I’m good at, so I really enjoy it. He’s only been here just over a month or so. So, it’s going to take time, but even in the early days, you can see how good we are. Hopefully, we carry on, and in a few months, we should be really good at it.
“The gaffer has come in, and he’s given us massive belief. Whether we go a goal down or a goal up, the game is 90 minutes, and we’re showing that at the moment with the late goals we’re getting.”
Rovers’ three-game streak at The Memorial Stadium is over, but the team will take confidence from collecting seven points from nine available in that time. Beating Peterborough United and Burton, who are both towards the bottom of the table, has helped the Gas push seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Thomas admitted the squad is more relaxed after a positive string of results but insisted that there is plenty of time left in the campaign to go.
“It feels a little bit more comfortable,” said Thomas. “The position we’re in; it’s [the table] the first thing we look at when we get back in the dressing room. I think the results have gone for us today. We still know there’s a load more work to do to stay alive this season.
“Especially the position we’re in at the moment; our home form is probably going to see us over the line. We need to make sure we’re getting points at home because it’s obviously really difficult away. Saying that, we still need to pick up points away and it gives us full confidence now going into a really good side on Tuesday in Wycombe.”
