Bristol Rovers’ worrying form continues with Gas needing to “start winning games”

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Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones discuss the Bristol Rovers’ defeat against Mansfield Town.

Transcript

00:00Dan, looking at Bristol Rovers and in terms of their last outing in League One, a home

00:08defeat. You know, we mentioned before how important the home form is in this run-in.

00:12They lost at home to Mansfield, a side who have been lingering mid-table, only five points

00:20separate at two sides. And it's again, when we mentioned it before, that it's one that

00:25you would really have liked to have won if you were following Bristol Rovers. What do

00:30you take from this game? What's the thoughts surrounding the camp now? Because they do

00:34just still linger above the relegation zone. But, you know, Burton Albion have a game in

00:39hand and that can really, you know, shift so quickly. That six-point gap can disappear.

00:45So yeah, what's the thoughts, what's the feelings surrounding Bristol Rovers at this moment

00:50and how they, you know, look for their next win?

00:54Yeah, it's just a disappointing afternoon all-round form against Mansfield.

00:59You know, we've mentioned a lot this season, or at least recently, how their home form

01:03has been key to their potential survival, but then they've gone and lost that. And that just

01:08wasn't good enough from them at all, to be honest. I mean, if you watch the goals back,

01:14they're such poor goals to concede. Defensive lapses, literally just giving the ball back

01:18to the opposition, who then go and put the ball on the back of the net. If you're wanting to stay

01:22up and survive, that is the last type of goal you want to concede. At least, fair enough, if a team

01:27has opened you up and played brilliant football. But they've just gifted two goals to the opposition

01:32and put themselves in such a pickle now with the relegation. Yes, as you say there, they are still

01:37ahead just about, but not by much. And they're going to have to start getting results from

01:42somewhere now because it's getting really tight. And they had a bit of a buffer, but that's

01:47dwindling now because of the losses that they've had. I mean, Anil Calderon seems to be convinced

01:52that they are going to stay up. But I also think he knows that things just need to be better if

01:57that is to be the case. But I just don't know what they do because, I mean, you can't really

02:05vouch for defensive lapses like that. That's just, it's human error. But I suppose when you're in

02:10those situations, these things just somehow happen, don't they? And you just can't sort of

02:14vouch for it at all. But I don't know whether they can, they just need to be more solids or

02:19they just need to be, or morale's gone. The confidence is clearly quite gone, hasn't it?

02:24Because they wouldn't be doing things like that if the confidence was there. But it's just

02:28disappointing that their home form is also stuttering at a vital time when they don't need

02:32it to. I mean, fair enough, their away form was already pretty poor, but their home form now

02:36taking a dip. It's the last thing they need. But I just, I'm struggling to work out how they improve

02:41because, I mean, people have been criticising their recruitment, but obviously that can't

02:47change now until the end of the season. So it is a case of working with what they've got, but

02:51it's going to need an awful lot of work to do anything.

02:54They've gone on multiple three game plus sort of losing streaks. Then they come out with a few

03:00wins on the bounce. I mean, the inconsistency has been incredible. And I mean, the fans have

03:04gone for a whirlwind throughout the season. When you think, you know, maybe we've got a bit of

03:09form going, you've got a draw and a couple of wins, and then suddenly it's three losses and

03:12they're in this state now where they've lost three on the bounce again at this crucial time

03:17of the season as well. But then if you also look at the fixtures against the teams around them,

03:22you know, they've lost to Northampton, they've obviously just lost to Mansfield,

03:26and they've really struggled only drawing with Shrewsbury Town, rock bottom of the league.

03:31They've really struggled with the games where, you know, you've got to win the games around you,

03:36especially when you're down the bottom. Yes, they beat Burton Albion, but other than that,

03:40it's been pretty poor over round in terms of the games against the teams around them. That's sort

03:47of been a key factor to where they probably are right now. Yeah, I mean, and you just then,

03:53when you get to a stage where you're looking at what other teams do, you know, it's not good.

03:58When it's in your own hands, fair enough, you go and do with that. If you're sort of looking

04:02over your shoulder and sort of hoping that other teams are dropping points, you know your situation

04:07isn't good. And I think we're getting into that stage now for Bristol Rovers. Yes, they're still

04:11ahead, but as we mentioned, it's not by much. And soon enough, if things continue to go the way

04:16they're going, they're going to be in a situation where they are going to be relying on other teams

04:19to drop points. But even then, they're still needing to pick up points on their own bases.

04:24And at the moment, they're not doing that. And you just struggle to see a way out of it. But

04:29they do still have the buffer, so they've got to use that. And, well, luck comes into it, I think,

04:38more than people realise in these situations. But they just need to start winning games.

04:41I know it sounds simple, but they do.

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