Struggle Robins beaten by Rovers as survival hopes take a big blow
CHELTENHAM Town manager Darrell Clarke admitted his team are majorly struggling for confidence after their 3-1 defeat at home to Bristol Rovers.
Rovers ended a seven-match scoring drought in style with a comfortable win, and Clarke admitted: “I am searching for answers with the group and we have some walking wounded and players putting their bodies on the line,” he said.
“I get the frustration and disappointment from my supporters, who have been great. We just have to keep going.
“We have to make sure we don’t feel sorry for ourselves because unbelievably it’s still in our hands.”
Scott Sinclair opened the scoring in the first half, with Brandon Aguilera and ex-robins loanee Elkan Baggott adding two more after the break before Liam Sercombe’s stoppage-time consolation for the hosts.
Rovers skipper Antony Evans also saw a first-half penalty saved, but Cheltenham offered little as their survival chances suffered another major blow.
Sinclair opened the scoring in the 12th minute, finishing neatly past Luke Southwood and inside the bottom left corner after being played in by another ex-cheltenham player, Luke Thomas.
Evans was brought down in the box by Southwood 10 minutes before halftime, but the goalkeeper redeemed himself by diving to his left to keep out the spot-kick - but seemed to injure himself in the process.
Cheltenham made two changes at half-time, but they were not able to find a way back into the game and it was 2-0 in the 56th minute.
Thomas found substitute Aguilera and he rolled a shot into the bottom right corner, then Baggott headed the third from Harvey Vale’s corner in the 76th minute.
Sercombe was set up by fellow exrovers player Matty Taylor in the 94th minute, but it was too little, too late for Cheltenham.
“It’s another tough afternoon for us,” said Clarke. “We are falling short at the minute. We have to regroup and go again.
“It is hard is it to turn this run around because we are not anywhere near the level of the standard required to win a League One game at the minute, that’s fact.
“When you are carrying one or two things and a few things in the background, there is always a combination of things and it’s never just one thing. At the minute, we are carrying quite a few of those.
“Confidence wise, injury wise, everything about the group at the minute is not quite clicking.
“That’s not me digging them out for a lack of effort or anything like that, it’s just a fact that at this level, our performance has to be a hell of a lot better individually and collectively to be able to win games at this level.
“We’ve fallen short in recent weeks, certainly in the last five or six weeks. We haven’t got near the standards or levels we need to for a combination of reasons and different things, but we can’t keep feeling sorry for ourselves.
“That’s a Bristol Rovers team who can make seven changes, it’s a squad full of experience and know-how.
“They’ll be disappointed with where they are going to finish this season for the amount of finances they’ve been able to put into the club.
“We know it’s tough. We understand where we’re at. I am trying not to be too negative, but also not kidding myself that the performance warrants us winning a game today.”
Clarke made six changes to his starting side, then lost Tom Pett to injury 18 minutes into the game.
Josh Harrop came on, then was withdrawn at half-time with Joe Nuttall and Matty Taylor coming on, then Sercombe and Jordan Thomas followed midway through the half, with Clarke desperately looking for a winning combination.
“With Matty Taylor it’s not an ideal game for him to come on in because of the relationship he has with the Gasheads, but needs must at a certain point.
“Hopefully he has got through that and we’ll keep trying to get his fitness levels up and it gives him a bit of confidence in the hamstring injury, but certainly earlier than I would like to have done.
“Tayls will put his body on the line. He’s come back two or three weeks too early. But he’s willing to do that for the club, like Lloydy and other players as well, who I am not going to name.
“There are a lot carrying bits and pieces, but that’s where we are.
“He’s fatiguing a bit, Sercs. He’s brilliant and I want Liam Sercombe in my team every game, without a shadow of a doubt and I’d be stupid not to, but I have to make sure I look after him.”
“I am searching for answers with the group, individually. I continue to do that,” he said. “That’s the way I work, that’s the way I roll and that’s the way I’ve gone about it.
“We have players that can’t last 90 minutes, we have players who are fatiguing a little bit, that need freshening up and that’s just the nature of the beast of where we’re at.
“We haven’t got the strength in depth when we’ve been carrying injuries. Lloydy (George Lloyd) has a tear in his tendon, but he is giving absolutely everything. A nerve in the problem as well.
“You are rolling the dice, mixing things up and trying to freshen things up, looking at new ideas and I ain’t coming up with the right solutions yet.
“But it’s still in our hands, which is unbelievable with four games to go.
“I don’t get all my decisions right, I appreciate that, and everyone will have an opinion when you don’t win games and that’s fine, I understand that.
“But I am a great believer in the experience I’ve had and what I know about the group. It’s a case of chipping away.
“I am sure you’ve seen the agent fees when they came out. We have an understanding of where we are as a club, don’t we?
“That’s not me complaining about that. I came into it with my eyes wide open, so I am not complaining, but let’s have an appreciation and understand where we’re at, where we were and where we are as a football club.
“The football club tries to break even or make a profit and we probably couldn’t compete with 10 or 12 teams in League Two on the financials.
“But what I will say is that I want a better performance from my players than we are putting on at the minute. I get the frustration and disappointment from my supporters, who have been great. We just have to keep going.”
Cheltenham Town (3-5-2): Southwood; Smith (Sercombe 62), Davies, Shepherd; Long, Bonds, Pett (Harrop 18, Nuttall 46), Kinsella, Ferry; Keena (Thomas 62), Lloyd (M Taylor 46). Subs not used: Pardington, Olayinka.
Bristol Rovers (4-2-3-1): Cox; Hunt, Wilson (C Taylor 83), Baggott, Vale; Ward (Aguilera 22), Rossiter (Conteh 51); Sinclair, Evans, Thomas; Martin. Subs not used: Gordon, Mccormick, Hoole, Ward.
Attendance: 5,501 (1,509 away).