Paul Tisdale sees “obvious flaws” in his Bristol Rovers side after they were beaten 2-0 by Gillingham at the Mem on Wednesday.
The Gas were unable to make their early chances count before Gills’ took the lead as Max Ehmer failed to clear a straight ball and Vadaine Oliver profited with a cute finish.
The striker bagged his brace in the second half, rounding off a clinical counter attack to give the visitors a deserved win.
Tisdale was frank in his assessment of his side, who are seven League One games without a win, on Sunday.
“In the first half we conceded a pretty poor goal, the sort you don’t like to concede, over the top,” Tisdale said. “It made the rest of the game very hard for us.”
“There’s so much I want to talk to the players about, but this evening’s probably not the time for it.
“We competed, there are some obvious flaws in our play and things we need to work on but that’s for the training ground.
“In time I’d like us to be stronger, say it was just a brief knock and then bounce back and put the pressure back on.
“We had pressure for the 10 or 15 minutes leading up to that, that’s when we had our best play.
“It was a messy game, we had ample opportunities to attack their final third, so again I’d like to put some work in on that. The games come thick and fast so you’ve got to get points.”
The Gas have just one win and five goals at the Mem from six games this season, sitting one point from safety in the relegation zone.
Their profligacy continues to prove costly, and Tisdale knows he must address that issue quickly.
“I don’t think it’s a new worry, you have to look at the team and the evidence so far,” Tisdale said.
“We have a side that’s not scored enough goals this year so the first thing we have to do is create more chances.
“Potentially today, there were opportunities which should’ve turned into much more so let’s work with that and learn from those.
“The players tried really hard but perhaps it’s a case of not being so stressed when they do get there and not too anxious to score, so we’ve got to get that balance right too.”
