Upson highlights plenty of positives at the Pirates
BRISTOL Rovers’ Ed Upson was pleased with the character of the team in their goalless draw with Accrington Stanley on Saturday.
The game was Graham Coughlan’s first League game as permanent manager and saw Rovers extend their unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions.
And the 29-year-old midfielder believes there were plenty of positives to take from a game which ended Rovers’ seven-match losing run against Stanley.
He said: “I thought we really dug in deep and showed a lot of charac- ter – where a few weeks ago we maybe might have lost that game. But we held on for the draw and could have possibly nicked it as well.
“We need to just keep working on the training ground and keep going because we are in a good place mentally and physically, so there are positives around the place at the moment.”
However, Upson did admit that Rovers were missing that extra bit of quality to force a winner in what were difficult conditions at the Wham Stadium.
“You can always ask for more quality, and we were lacking in that department a little bit,” Upson added. “You had the wind and swirling rain, but it’s the same for both teams, and it just worked out that it was a very scrappy game.
“Whoever was going to deal with that best was going to come out on top and it was a bit of a stalemate in the end. As the gaffer said, a point here becomes a very good point if we get three in the next game and that is always the case.”
Upson was signed in the summer by Darrell Clarke, but praised the impact of his new manager in improving Rovers’ fortunes.
He said: “He’s a nice man, and he’s true to his word, and all he asks of you is hard work. I feel like the performances we have put in have reflected him as a person. Hard working, desire, character and we are getting the results from that.
“We feel like we are on the up. A honeymoon period for a manager is sort of two or three games, but this has been five or six now, and we are really seeing good results.”
Manchester City reduced the gap to leaders Liverpool back to four points with a 3-0 victory over Wolves in the Premier League last night.
The hosts took a tenth-minute lead through Gabriel Jesus and less than ten minutes later Wolves had centreback Willy Boly sent off.
Jesus made put City two-up before half-time and the victory margin was increased to three via a Conor Coady own goal 12 minutes from time.