Darrell Clarke admits Bristol Rovers need to be ‘miles, miles better’

Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke admitted that other than the return to competitive action of defender Tom Lockyer it was “hard to look at any sort of positives” after his side’s 4-0 thrashing at Crawley – their fourth successive league defeat.

Lockyer, 30, who had not played a senior game since suffering a cardiac arrest playing for Luton in December 2023, started the match and successfully came through 57 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium.

But Clarke was left “hurting” after seeing his team concede four goals for the third match in a row.

Rovers were on the back foot from the 34th minute when defender Jack Sparkes received a straight red card for deliberate handball.

Captain Alfie Kilgour put through his own goal as Crawley took the lead in first-half stoppage time, and Harry Forster, Scott Malone and Louis Flower added further goals after the break.

Clarke said:”It’s great to see Tom back, but it’s hard to look at any sort of positives – we have to be miles, miles better.

“Tom is a leader and he’ll help pick us up.”

Clarke criticised Sparkes for the sending off by saying: “It was a crazy decision by  an experienced player. But now is not the time to smash the lads with a stick; not a lot is going for us at the minute.

“The last three weeks have been disastrous. I apologise to the fans – they’re hurting and I’m hurting.”

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey felt his new group were “getting there” after scoring four goals in a home league game for the first time in two years.

He had gone into the game urging his men to be more ruthless to boost their cutting edge, and he said:”I think we’ve played well in most games but it’s great to get a result and see a clean sheet.

“We are a new group and a work in progress but we are getting there.

“From a coaching point of view, it’s great to see goals going in from what we have worked on.”

Lindsey admitted there was a feeling from fans around the ground of ‘here we go again’ when Ryan Loft missed a penalty after Sparkes’ dismissal, but he continued: “Fair play they stepped up and made it happen.

“I know they got a man sent off quite early on, but we’ll take that. It’s not our fault he handballed it.”