Ward nabs a replay to pile more pressure on Wagner

DAVID WAGNER pulled no punches after his Championship side Norwich were forced into a replay.

There were calls for Wagner to go from some quarters at the final whistle at Carrow Road while there was also criticism of the quality of football being produced by his team during the game.

Grant Ward cancelled out Ashley Barnes’ opener for the Canaries as League One Rovers claimed a deserved second chance. “It was a poor performance, well below par,” said Wagner. “We have high expectations of the players here and were certainly expecting a much better performance than that.” As for the criticism, Wagner added: “On a personal level it is not nice to hear things like that but it should not affect what is happening out on the pitch – how we play, how we pass the ball. Let’s not look for excuses. We have to do better, it is as simple as that.”

Rovers boss Matt Taylor said: “I’m so pleased with the performance, so pleased with what the team and what the club stood for in terms of the effort on the pitch and the effort from the fans. We did have a threat about us, especially in that first half. Our keeper doesn’t feel he has been over-worked.

We defended our box pretty well, set-pieces included, so a step in the right direction. We are still in the draw. We don’t feel it’s a missed opportunity.” NORWICH: Long 7; Fisher 5 (Fassnachtat (81) 6), Batth 6, Hanley 6, Giannoulis 5; Forshaw 5 (Sorensen (70) 6), Gibbs 6; Sainz 6, Barnes 7, Hernandez 8 (Rowe (60) 5); Sargent 7 (Idah (45) 6) BRISTOL ROVERS: Cox 7; Taylor 8, Crama 7, Grant 8; Thomas 7, Ward 9 (Mccormick (54) 6), Finley 8, Vale 7; Evans 7; Martin 6, Brown 7 (Collins (81) 6) STAR MAN: Grant Ward. Scored a belter for the equaliser and then was all over the pitch putting in the hard yards. Class act. REF: Lewis Smith 7