Matt Taylor said he was disappointed with Bristol Rovers’ 3-2 defeat to Exeter City in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
The Gas twice levelled after going behind, with Connor Taylor and Isaac Hutchinson cancelling out goals from Jay Bird and Millenic Alli. However, Demetri Mitchell scored with two minutes of regular time remaining to give the Grecians all three points.
Rovers are out of the competition after collecting one point from three matches and will now turn their attention to their FA Cup first-round clash against Weston-super-Mare.
Taylor analysed the game, the goals conceded, Chris Martin’s return and the three upcoming games at The Memorial Stadium.
We gave them two goals...
"It was a strange first hour as we gave them two goals," he said. "We worked so hard to get back in the game on both occasions. Their goals aren't freak goals but mistakes and big mistakes from ourselves.
"There wasn’t enough rhythm really from start to finish in terms of where the players needed to be to get more out of the game. But we know how those moments and, ultimately, those goals affect us personality and character-wise. It also puts more pressure on our game."
We’ve not defended well...
"We are working so hard to get back in the game when we don’t have to," said Taylor. "We’ve made too many mistakes close to our goal and conceded three goals.
"That’s been a pattern in this competition. We have to acknowledge that. The four against Swindon and the three against Tottenham, we’ve not defended well and have given ourselves enough of a platform or enough control elements from a defensive capacity.
"We looked like we had a threat about us tonight, and we worked so hard to get back in the game on two occasions but disappointed overall."
We’ve been short of the level...
"I spoke about mistakes, and that can’t be put to the whole squad and everyone, but we need more. Over the course of these three games in this competition, we’ve been short of the level.
"That’s not just the level for these games because Exeter made a host of changes, as did we, but we’re talking about the level we need on a Saturday. It’s Reading and Peterborough away. It’s a serious level at the moment, and we’re a little bit short.
It’s a massive boost to have Chris Martin back...
"It’s a massive boost to have Chris Martin back. We only really found out at the weekend that he could play that amount of game time. With where Chris’ running is, we felt we could get 45 minutes out of him.
"We’ve just got to build him and build him and keep him injury-free now for the next couple of months. He’s going to be massive for us in terms of a platform and a player that can handle the ball and handle the occasion as well.
It’s really exciting to have three games at The Memorial Stadium...
"It’s really exciting to have three games at The Memorial Stadium, but it would have been nice to start this run of four games with a win and for me to be standing here more positively," said the manager.
"We were so positive about the performance at the weekend, our best performance of the season, despite the scoreline and the way it felt right at the very end. Whereas tonight, I’m standing here disappointed, and I think a lot of the players will be as well."
