Matt Taylor said the Bristol Rovers dressing room was disappointed after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Barnsley in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas started slowly and went behind after Davis Keillor-Dunn's debut goal inside the first eleven minutes. However, Matt Taylor's men got through a difficult period and levelled through Ruel Sotiriou, who netted his first goal for the Club before half-time.
The Pirates went close to taking the lead through Promise Omochere, but the Tykes claimed all three points after Adam Phillips powered his header beyond Josh Griffiths.
Taylor suggested that his team are progressing in the right direction, it was the best away performance of the season, and he was pleased with getting new signing Shaq Forde on the pitch.
I've got a disappointed changing room
“I've got a disappointed changing room,” said the manager. “In terms of the game as a spectacle and a performance, we weren't too far away. We started on the back foot. They started brighter and moved quicker than us in the first fifteen to twenty minutes.
“As the game progressed, we used the ball better than we had done and created enough chances to not only be level but possibly ahead. Then it’s one moment of quality."
We had to chase the game from a goal behind
“We couldn’t quite handle the space,” he said. “The ball seemed to land to a red shirt instead of a blue-and-white one. I didn’t think we moved quickly enough. The first movement is in your brain, so you’ve really got to switch yourself on.
“As much as we talk at length about preparing to go away to places like Barnsley, they will be forward, sharp, and quick on restarts. We just weren't quite snappy enough in our game to start with. We had to chase the game from a goal behind, but we did that in a really good fashion and got ourselves back in the game.”
Shaq Forde showed glimpses of what he can bring
“It was good to get Shaq on the pitch,” he said. “It’s a shame we were chasing a game, and there was not as much space as he would have liked. But I thought he showed in glimpses what he can bring to the team. It was good to get Gatlin O’Donkor on the pitch as well.
“You wanted the pressure to build and build, then one of our chances fell to Scott Sinclair, and you would back him to hit the target. It’s good that we’ve got options when we need to chase a game.”
The best away performance
“I think that was our best away performance in terms of the way we played apart from the first fifteen minutes,” said Taylor. "That is still important. If we play like that away from home more often than not this season, I think we’ll be absolutely fine.
"But you don’t want that run of not winning a game away from home to go too long as it puts too much pressure on your home form.”
