Paul Tisdale has revealed stand-in goalkeeper Jordi van Stappershoef’s performance against Plymouth Argyle received an ovation from his teammates in the dressing room at full time on Saturday.
The Gas won their third game in a week, beating Argyle 3-0 at the Mem to climb to 15th in League One.
Alfie Kilgour, Luke McCormick and Zain Westbrooke got the goals, and van Stappershoef – playing in place of the injured Anssi Jaakkola – starred at the other end with a long list of good saves to repel the Pilgrims’ attack and preserve a clean sheet.
The Dutchman had received criticism for recent performances, but he played a crucial role in Rovers’ third win in a week.
“He did really well,” Tisdale said. “The players gave him a round of applause at the end in the dressing room.
“He kept a clean sheet and made some really decisive saves and generally had a really good game.”
Rovers caused Plymouth plenty of strife from set plays throughout the 90 minutes, with Kilgour and McCormick’s goals stemming from wicked corner kicks.
After gaining their two-goal cushion, the Gas then looked to defend stoutly and pick off a third goal on the counter, which Westbrooke delivered five minutes from time.
There were periods of sustained pressure on the Rovers goal in the second half as Argyle chased the game, and Tisdale was delighted with his side’s application to protect their lead.
“Every game’s different, and that’s the bit I congratulated them on afterwards,” the manager said. “It was a different type of game and we embraced it. We enjoyed the challenge and we came out on top.
“It is early days but I’m just trying to pick off the low-lying fruit and concentrate on one or two things that can have an immediate effect on performance.
The Gas have six points in the bag and a win in the EFL Trophy as reward for a week’s hard work, but Tisdale insists his players will not savour Saturday’s win too long with a relentless run of games ahead.
“Football is just incessant with the fixture list,” he said. “We’re already discussing what comes next. We can’t afford to look backwards, only forwards.
“We’re a competitive team all of a sudden in all sorts of ways, and we have to build on it.”
