Steve Evans critical of 'poor' defending as Bristol Rovers lose at Cambridge

‘We were poor today, the whole back five were poor’

(Image: Kara Thomas/PPAUK)

Steve Evans was critical of Bristol Rovers’ “poor” defending, as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at Cambridge United.

Joe Quigley levelled the game from the spot in first-half stoppage time to cancel out Ben Knight’s earlier strike, but the hosts’ number 14 completed his brace after the break, with Kell Watts scoring the third in the 79th minute.

The result leaves the Gas five points clear of the League Two relegation zone, with victories for Shrewsbury Town and Barrow seeing them drop to 21st.

Reflecting on the defeat, Evans said: “Yeah, beaten by the better side. Comfortably beaten. We didn’t help ourselves enough. The performance looked a little bit disjointed, a little bit nervy.

“Cambridge are a top three side, aren’t they? And they’re a good side, and they’re probably playing with a lot of confidence, particularly here at the Abbey. It is always a tough place to come.

“But, you know, at the end of the first-half, we get the penalty, which is a clear penalty, and we go in thinking, right, well, it doesn’t get much worse than that.

“I think there’s nothing in the game, bar the five or six minutes at the start of the second half. We’ve had a couple of attacks [and] they have. And then, the referee gives a penalty for something he’s let go the rest of the game, if you like.

“I think it’s a penalty. But he doesn’t give Joe Quigley one in the first-half, which is a clear penalty. So you feel a little bit hard done by then, but then from there on in, we lost two simple headers for the next goal. And, you know, when you lose headers like that, but defensively, we were poor today, the whole back five were poor.

“Yusuf has many plaudits and Jack Sparkes, too, but they didn’t help the middle three, who were having a very difficult afternoon by their own standards and their own performance levels.”

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Rovers’ top scorer was substituted for Ellis Harrison at half-time, with Evans confirming post-match that the Swiss striker was suffering from a dead leg. The head coach said that “It could be 48, 72 hours. It could be a little bit longer. We’ll know better tomorrow.”

Jack Sparkes also picked up his 10th yellow card of the season in the second half, which means he will be suspended for the next two matches.

(Image: Joe Toth/Shutterstock)

Speaking about the left wing-back’s performance, the 63-year-old said: “He deserves to go. He was atrocious today, anyway. He wouldn’t have played at Oldham. So, there we go. So he’s out for Tuesday, doesn’t matter to me, because he wouldn’t have played anyway. He was atrocious.”

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Next up for the Gas is a trip to Oldham Athletic on Tuesday February 17, before a return to The Mem to face play-off chasing Grimsby Town next Saturday.

Evans said that “our season won’t be defined in these two games” referring to the away trips to Cambridge and Oldham, but said that it “always plays a factor.”

Steve Evans critical of ‘poor’ defending as Bristol Rovers lose at Cambridge

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