Luke Thomas insists Bristol Rovers can find plenty of positives to take from their efforts in defeat to Exeter City.
Rovers put on a much-improved display in their Boxing Day fixture at St James Park with Promise Omochere’s second goal in as many games giving the Gas a deserved lead in the second half.
But, with two goals ruled out for offside and a seemingly clear penalty not given for the Pirates, the hosts were buoyed and levelled through Jack Fitzwater’s header before snatching all three points thanks to finishes by Millenic Alli and Jake Richards.
Despite the loss, Thomas looked on the optimistic side of the team’s performance.
“I thought we did well at times,” he said. “At about 70 minutes we were probably comfortable in the game. We had taken a deserved lead and we were on top. We should have had a penalty but we should have been two or three goals up. We can take the positives out of it, with the new head coach coming in, and move on.
“We created a lot of chances today. We’ve just got to put them in the back of the net. We made some really good chances and the lads know we have to perform in front of goal. It will get us up the table if we do that.”
While the No11 was pleased to be back in the starting XI, Thomas acknowledged the difficult standing the Pirates find themselves in Sky Bet League One.
“It’s brilliant to be back in the side. It was at left wing-back but I’ll do anything to help the lads and the side out. I hope I can take my chance and stay in the team now.
“There is a lot of potential in the team but we’ve not stopped talking about that. We find ourselves in a difficult situation and it’s up to us as a group of lads and staff to get us out of it.”
New head coach Iñigo Calderón - who was appointed on Thursday - watched on from the stands in Exeter and Thomas is already looking forward to starting work under the Spaniard at The Quarters.
The 42-year-old will begin work on Friday and lead the team for the first time away at Stevenage on Sunday.
“We met the new gaffer for the first time briefly on Thursday morning," he added. "It was only for five minutes but he did a little speech and it was really encouraging. We’re looking forward to getting back in now and hopefully he can give us a good vibe and we can start picking up wins and climbing the table.
“He comes from a club in Brighton & Hove Albion who play brilliant football so hopefully he can bring that to us. He was watching us at Exeter City and we know we need to make sure there’s a bit of an end product to what we’re doing. We need to find the killer pass and make things happen.”
