Scott Sinclair reflected on a ‘difficult afternoon’ after Bristol Rovers lost 5-0 to Lincoln City in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas were searching for their third successive win in the third tier after victories over Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers at The Memorial Stadium and their first triumph on the road since beating Cambridge United at the start of 2025.
However, the Rovers went into half-time one goal behind after Jovon Makama gave the Imps the lead with a thumping strike before a disappointing second half. Tom Baylis doubled the hosts' lead directly from a corner before James Collins whipped in their third. Makama followed with two more goals to complete his hat-trick.
Sinclair was disappointed with the loss to Lincoln but insisted his side must not dwell on the defeat.
“It was a really difficult afternoon with the lads,” he said. “I think when the second goal and the third goal go in, heads start to drop. It was a really difficult game. We can’t dwell on that. We’ve got important games going on and the next games, Crawley and then Mansfield, and we’ve just got to keep going.”
Rovers travelled to Lincoln after a run of three matches unbeaten in League One. An away draw with Shrewsbury Town ended a three-game losing run before consecutive wins over promotion hopefuls Huddersfield and Bolton stretched the gap between themselves and the relegation zone to nine points.
Sinclair suggested that the players must turn their attention to the next game and return to winning ways.
“I think we’ve been on a good run in the last few games, beating Bolton and beating Huddersfield,” said the winger. “I think the lads gave everything. It’s been a good couple of games, but we’ve just got to keep going and for us to go into the next game and pick up the three points. There are nine games left, and that’s all we can do.
“Once we’re back into training, we settle down, and we’ll look at all the mistakes and the positives out of the game. We’ll move into the next game and get the three points then.”
Rovers have struggled away from home recently, but Gasheads are still making the journey up and down the country to support their side. Sinclair praised the supporters who made the trip and would like to repay them with positive results away from home.
“We’ve got great fans,” he said. “They follow us everywhere we go and unfortunately, we didn’t put on the display today. When we’re in the home games, it seems that we’re much better. I think we need to start picking up points away from home and give the fans what they pay their money for.”
Rovers are now six points above the relegation zone after Burton Albion beat Shrewsbury. With the end of the season nearing, Sinclair admitted he does not look at the table and is only focused on the Pirates’ results.
“Not at all,” he said. “For us, we just keep looking forward. We don’t need to look behind us. For us, we win our games, and we’ll be fine.”
