Rovers Caretaker-Boss Paul Trollope Reacts To Carlisle Game

Last updated : 02 October 2005 By Thetashkentterror

Bristol Rovers caretaker-boss Paul Trollope gave his thoughts to the official Bristol Rovers website this evening on their 3-1 victory at Brunton Park :

" We're delighted with the performance, it's a hard place to come and this was a good win for us. After the first ten minutes when they were on top, I thought we were the better side throughout. It was disappointing the way they scored, a slip from Craig Hinton, but after that we deserved to win.

" They were the home side, we expected them to put us under pressure from the kick-off, and they did that. They put the ball into the corner and sometimes it's difficult to get out of that, but in training this week we've worked on ways of dealing with it, and although they had a succession of corners early on, I thought we dealt with them well, and it was a slip in the end that cost us rather than anything else.

" I have said before that I have belief in the players and I have belief in the system we are playing, and I think the players believe in it too. We had plenty of the game, and we got our just rewards from a difficult match. There were times when we missed a few chances and I thought despite playing well it wasn't going to be our day, but in the end I'm glad we got what we deserved.

" The belief and the spirit showed through again, and everyone kept working and as a team we kept our shape well, especially defensively. When we got the ball we did the things we'd worked on in training, and some of the things we didn't do right at Bury we corrected and did them a lot better today.

" We mixed it up well, we passed the ball well when it was on to do so, and we got Junior working well down the sides which we'd also worked on. We kept the ball well, we moved the ball well, and when we needed to be, we played the ball around in the opposition half and were patient.

" Hopefully this can be the beginning of something. With every game that John and I are in charge of we are trying to introduce new ideas, and today we tried some throw-in routines, and it worked a treat. Game-by-game we're looking to bring in new ideas, and hopefully that will see us continue to improve.

" As far as I am concerned Junior (Agogo) and Richard (Walker) are the best striking pair in this division. We weren't set to play to Richard's strengths before, but now we are, and I think we could really see him take off and score lots of goals. And Junior over the last month and in the three games I've been in charge of has worked incredibly hard, and he's becoming more and more consistent.

" With Scott Shearer, it was a difficult situation for him to come into with Ryan Clarke leaving the club, and it's a position where one mistake can leave you open to a lot of criticism. But he is a very good goalkeeper, he is commanding and he's had three great games for me and I couldn't ask for anything more.

" I'm not sure what this does for my prospects, all I am concerned with is preparing the lads correctly for each game. Today is the nearest of the three to how I want us to play, I thought we mixed it well and passed it well, but more than anything we showed fantastic spirit. I don't know what the future holds, all I will do is work hard at preparing the players and the team and trying to get positive results in each game, and what happens after that remains to be seen. "