Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Busy week for Lockyer
TOM Lockyer admits that the last week has been a little on the hectic side. The Bristol Rovers captain was a surprise name on the substitutes’ bench in Wednesday night’s FA Cup replay with Barnet, which came just 24 hours after he made his first start for Wales away to Albania.
Lockyer came on for the final ten minutes in the Pirates’ defeat to the Bees, capping off a mad 1,292-mile dash to get to the game.
He said: “It was quite hectic travelling to Albania – it was a bit further than I thought it was, I didn’t quite know where it was.
“That was a good experience, it was nice to get my first start, then straight back to Rovers after it.
“The Wales manager did the team the day before and I was sat in the meeting room, nudging my mates, saying that’s me, then I got straight on the phone to my old man and he booked his flight straight out there, to be fair to him.
“It was a friendly, so I wasn’t overexcited but, at the end of the day, it was my first start for Wales, so I was obviously delighted and just tried to put a good impression in.”
It was not the only time Lockyer had been at the Mem during his time on international duty as he attended the Pirates’ defeat to Scunthorpe last weekend.
He said: “With the game last Saturday, we had the afternoon off, so I came over with a couple of Wales boys who wanted to see the match, one of them was at Scunthorpe, so we came over for that.
“Straight after Albania, I went to the hotel, got some kit, then flew straight back, landed in Cardiff, then straight to Bristol, a bit more sleep then back to the Mem to be involved with the boys.
“I just wanted to be there, be just another voice in the changing room, and then I got on the bench if I was needed to come on.
“We ended up changing shape, so I got a few minutes, but the main thing was to come back and be around the lads and try to get my support that way.”
Lockyer is likely to be restored to his normal starting role when Rovers visit Charlton Athletic this afternoon, badly needing to Wednesday’s cup exit behind them, and also needing to pick up some points to climb out of the League One relegation zone.
However, with the south London club very much in the play-off hunt, Rovers will have their work cut out to pick up anything at The Valley.