Matt Butcher stated he ‘loved’ making his debut for Bristol Rovers in the Gas’ 3-1 victory over Peterborough United in Sky Bet League One.
The Pirates were looking to return to winning ways after two difficult 2-0 away defeats to Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic. They got off to a brilliant start when James Wilson scored the opener from close range.
Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou then made the lead comfortable with second-half strikes to put Rovers three goals ahead before Ricky-Jade Jones netted a late consolation for the Posh.
The victory was Rovers' second consecutive 3-1 triumph at The Memorial Stadium, with Butcher pleased with the win and performance of the team.
“It was a pretty positive outcome of the game,” he said. “Obviously, you say the three points were the main objective, but I think to a man, we played really well today. I think we’ve come out on our individual battles really well, and we did the basics pretty well, and that’s always going to give us a chance.
“Beyond that, I think we created some great areas, and I think the goals were coming, and they did.”
Butcher signed for Rovers on loan from Wycombe Wanderers last week and was thrown into the starting side by head coach Iñigo Calderón. The Spaniard was rewarded for his decision, with the new midfielder curling a delightful corner towards Wilson for the opener.
Reflecting on his debut for the Gas, Butcher was delighted to get a game under his belt immediately and praised the home support at The Memorial Stadium.
“I loved it,” he admitted. “I think that’s what you want, a game as quick as possible to play. Obviously, a positive one really helps. But I loved it. I couldn’t wait to be in front of the fans and that was a great way to start my career as a Rovers player.
“It’s much better being on the home side when the goals are going in. I will tell you that for free. It’s always been a great place to come. It’s always been a difficult place to come as an opposing player. So, I think with the next two games coming up, we’ve really got to hone in on that and give them something to feed off. I think we did that today and they were excellent.”
Rovers victory on Sunday meant they leapfrogged the Posh in the League One table and moved six points above the relegation zone with their third win in five outings in the third tier. The triumph was especially important, with Peterborough starting the day just one place and two points above Rovers.
Butcher confessed that everyone knew the importance of the game and insisted that his side must use their level of performance as something to build on.
“You can say you don’t look at the table, but you always do,” he said. “You always know what games mean, and I think we really used that as motivation today to dial into that and emotionally get stuck into the game. I think our intensity, you could probably hear it from the stands, you could hear everyone to a man was excellent, and that has to be the basics of our performances moving forward.”
The English Football League is busy, but Rovers have a rare weekend free after their away trip to Wycombe was postponed due to the Chairboys' involvement in the Emirates FA Cup. Moving down to Bristol last week, Butcher suggested the few days without a fixture will give him a chance to settle and get to know his new teammates.
“I’ve been in the hotel for a couple of days,” he said. “It’s nice to start with, but you miss your own cooking and stuff like that. So, this week will give me a chance to settle in, get to know each other a lot better, and have some good time on the training pitch as well to dial down systems and tactics, which sometimes can be difficult to learn in 48 hours.
“I think this week will be really positive, especially off the back of a positive result. We can nail down what we want, and it will help me settle in.”
