Ben Garner is certain there is “so much more to come” from his Bristol Rovers side after they extended their unbeaten run to five games on Tuesday.
The Gas ground out three points at New Meadow against Shrewsbury Town, with Brandon Hanlan scoring the game’s only goal – a brave header before being clattered by Salop keeper Deyan Illiev – to take the tally to 10 points from a possible 12 in League One since the hammering at Doncaster Rovers last month.
Rovers were not anywhere near their best in possession but, crucially, they found a way to win thanks to dogged performances across the park and some inspirational defending from skipper Max Ehmer.
Garner believes it is just the beginning for his young side.
“That’s a happy dressing room, we’ve got good momentum and the pleasing thing is there is so much more to come from the group,” he said.
“It’s ironic, but if you go in terms of possession and working it through the pitch, the first two thirds, the best was probably Doncaster first half, in terms of the way we moved the ball.
“You come away and everyone thinks you’ve been hammered there, and we probably haven’t been as good with the ball over a course of a game since then.
“But we’ve become more resilient, we’ve become harder to beat. That was the priority.
“We’re only going to get better in possession and be able to develop that. These are players that are learning to become robust and resilient and handle this level, and I’m really pleased with them as a group.”
That resilience was the most pleasing factor for Garner against a Shrews side which caused plenty of problems.
“(We showed) good character, overall,” he continued. “We started the game well and went ahead and then we took a bit of a backwards step.
“There were a few choice words at half time and second half I thought we were much better.
“We should have scored more, we had really good opportunities, but delighted to come away with a win at a difficult place.
“The gritty side and the determined side of the performance was really pleasing, especially from some of the young players in the group.
“We should have got that second or third goal to kill the game, but we’re delighted with the three points.”
