Matt Taylor stated he had honest conversations this week before Bristol Rovers’ trip to Peterborough United in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas have lost the previous two matches in the third tier, including a 4-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic at The Memorial Stadium last Saturday.
Rovers had won both league games at home this season, beating Northampton Town and Cambridge United, but lost to the Latics after a brace from Joe Hugill and goals from Thelo Assgaard and Luke Chambers.
Taylor previewed the match against the Posh and discussed the week of training, away performances and injury news.
TRAINING THIS WEEK
"The week of training has been pretty positive," said the manager. "We had some honest discussions and meetings at the start of the week. We tried to get that out of the way as much as we could on Monday to get it out of the system of the players and the staff about the result on the weekend.
"Then it's been about getting our heads down and getting to work. There have been positive training sessions and assessing a couple physically as you always do, getting closer to the game and then more on the tactical and opposition elements."
GOOD REACTION
"I’ve seen a good reaction on the whole," he said. "A bit of shakiness, which is understandable. You learn an awful lot as a manager about people that, in theory, you’re in charge of on the back of a defeat like we had at the weekend and the manner of it.
"It’s been an interesting week from my point of view and seeing which players really want to stand up, be counted and put their hand up to be in this team."
"We’ve been quite stable and consistent with our selection, but on the back of the performance and the result at the weekend, changes are certainly needed."
CHANCES FOR PLAYERS
"Taylor Moore has apologised and will miss the next three games, so there’s an opportunity for a defender to come into that unit," said the boss. "Apart from Saturday, that unit had performed pretty well and been quite consistent with the selection.
"There’s an opportunity for a player to come in. Connor Taylor came on at half-time on the weekend, so it’s about getting his match sharpness and mentality where it needs to be."
CLOSER TO A WIN ON THE ROAD
"You can be close, but you can also be a million miles away at times," said Taylor. "The result is everything, and Barnsley is probably the closest we’ve come in terms of the chances at the start of the second half.
"We have to dictate more of the running, certainly in terms of the way we control ourselves away from home. We generally stood up to most that the opposition teams have thrown at us so far.
"It will be a different test this weekend against a fantastic footballing team with some outstanding one-versus-one players and one of the best attacking teams in the league.
"We have to find more ways of affecting them, scoring more goals, creating more chances and finding a little bit of pressure to put on the opposition away from home.
"The moment you do that, the whole feel of the stadium changes, like we felt last weekend."
INJURY NEWS
"Grant Ward has done a little bit of training this week, so does come back into contention," he said. "We’ll see how he is tomorrow. There’s a couple on the back of the weekend that maybe physically weren't quite right in terms of going into that game.
"We’ve had a couple of scans and X-rays. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious, major or long-term. So, generally a healthy group. Chris Martin and Joel Senior are the long-term absentees."
