Danny Schofield felt an absence of a clinical edge in both boxes cost Rovers during the defeat at Sutton United.
Rovers were the better side during the first half in particular but could not make the pressure count and fell behind when Coby Rowe capitalised on a mistake to head home for Sutton. David Ajiboye added a second for the hosts as Rovers were caught on the counter chasing an equaliser.
Schofield on how the game played out:
“We were full of confidence coming to Sutton and I thought in the first half especially we played some really good football between both boxes. I felt really positive at half time but unfortunately we didn’t get the result.
“Starting games is something we’ve tried to address and I think the lads have been excellent in the last four games in terms of being the better team on that front.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game and we wanted to be on the front foot. We knew we’d have to defend long, direct balls and I think we did it for the majority of the game.
“We started both halves well but ultimately moments in both boxes cost us. I don’t think we were clinical in their box to finish the action and, although it was unfortunate that Tommy Rowe slipped, we didn’t nail certain actions in our box.
“The lads put in a real good effort and I can never blame them for that. They leave everything on the pitch and that’s a non-negotiable - it’s what you have to do.
“The football we’re trying to play, I felt it was there in large spells between both boxes.”
On Rovers’ performance after falling behind:
“Sutton were always going to come out and take the game to us in the second half. They were always going to put more direct balls into our last line and look for first and second contacts.
“The game swung a little bit but I felt that if one team was going to be win it then it would be us based on the balance of play. That wasn’t to be because we weren’t good enough in both boxes. Ultimately Sutton won the game and they deserved that.”
On chasing the game:
“We put fresh players on the pitch because we wanted more energy and more intensity in those final actions. The second goal, I’ll take that. We committed a lot of players forward and stayed in the second phase so we were open at the back. We were chasing the game because we came to win a game of football but it wasn’t to be.”
On the travelling Rovers support:
“I felt they were outstanding. The sang throughout the game and I’m gutted for them that they couldn’t travel back north with the win. We’ll continue to fight.”
On the penalty incident with Kyle Hurst:
“I think we should have had a penalty. I said to the fourth official that it was a penalty and he said Kyle should have gone down. If he’s saying that to me, he’s telling my player to dive, I’ve got a very honest player. That tells me it was a penalty.”