Every word Matt Taylor said on EFL Trophy exit to Exeter, Bristol Rovers' squad depth and more

Bristol Rovers' exit from the Bristol Street Motors Trophy was officially confirmed on Tuesday night as the Gas were beaten 3-2 by fellow League One side Exeter City in an entertaining game at the Mem.

It did look extremely unlikely that Rovers were going to be able to progress to the knockout stages after being hammered 4-0 by Swindon Town in their last game with their other result a 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in which they missed out on a bonus point when losing a penalty shootout.

Matt Taylor made nine changes to the side that lost 1-0 at Reading three days prior while Exeter made 10 from their 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town. It was the visitors who took the lead as Michael Forbes misskicked an attempted clearance, allowing Jay Bird to tap home from close distance.

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Rovers were able to score an equaliser though before the break as Connor Taylor turned home a cross from Luke Thomas at the back-post with both sides looking lively.

The Gas defender, however, was at fault for Exeter's second goal early in the second half when a slip allowed substitute Millenic Alli time and space to cooly slot home past Josh Griffiths.

Rovers' best player on the night Isaac Hutchinson got the score level once again with a thumping finish from the left before another Exeter substitute in Demetri Mitchell found the back of the net late on.

The defeat has confirmed the Gas' position at the bottom of their group with Taylor's side's next game at home to Weston-super-Mare in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.

Here is everything the Rovers manager said to local media in the aftermath of tonight's defeat to Exeter and ahead of Saturday's cup tie...

Matt, quite a bit to digest out of that. What did you make of it?

I don't want to say strange in terms of where we were in the game and then a couple of goals out of absolutely nothing rocked us and took us back a little bit and set us back certainly in terms of the game. But there were certainly too many mistakes out there for a manager's liking and some of them were costly ones.

We had to force the issue to get shots and goals and create chances ourselves, which we didn't do often enough, but I thought it was a little wobble defensively tonight, which has probably been a fair reflection of this campaign in this competition. I think it was three against Tottenham, four against Swindon and three tonight. Yeah, that's too many goals against.

Six of the side started tonight started at Swindon, do you think they got the memo that you wanted something more than you showed at the County Ground?

We needed to show more than that. I have to be honest, I still don't think we showed enough. For the level we're working towards, which is a very good League One at the moment.

So, yeah, I think those three games have been a, not a reflection of the squad that's wrong to say, but a little bit of an eye opener in terms of where some games and performances have been at and not enough to say, not I deserve a chance at the weekend, but I'm ready to play at the weekend.

But we have to know that Exeter made changes as well. I know that they’ve got four very young players from the academy on that pitch. But we didn't quite control that game enough for long enough.

How is Chris Martin after his 45 minutes?

Seems okay. Frustrated. We didn't quite get in the service. We didn't get enough box entries in that first half for him to feed off. So he’s a bit frustrated but the big thing for Chris is just to stay fit and get minutes under his belt.

So does it make, in a sense, a greater clarity for you in terms of what you might pick at the weekend in particular?

Yes, and moving forward. I think we've been close to it ever since the Swindon game really, in terms of what we try to get out on the pitch more often than not.

But you always need your squad and not only do you need it, you need it more than ever when there's injuries, there's players with suspensions, there's all other reasons and those players who've been out in those games, the Tottenham, the Swindon and tonight, they've been on the first team pitch, I say first team pitch, been on the league pitch more often than not.

We’re left a little bit short, I think, in that competition and I think that's a bit of a reflection on it.

Is Ruel Sotiriou okay because he went down towards the end? The last thing you want is to lose another forward.

Exactly that. Yeah, I think that's a collision and a bang as opposed to a strain, but I'll have to check with the physios.

Going forward to Saturday, what sort of an approach do you expect Weston to have?

They’re a very strong team at that level so we have to not only respect that, but understand it. But we're at home and we have to put them under real pressure. What will the game look like? We'll allow it to look a certain way.

If we play well then we'll be on the ascendancy. If we don't play well and we let them get hold of the ball and get up the pitch more often than not, then it'll be a difficult afternoon. But it will be about the start and the feel and the personality of the group.

So you will respect the FA Cup and pick a strong side?

Yeah. Look, I think I have to pick a strong side. I'm not in a strong enough position not to pick a strong side. I don't think the group is in a strong enough position not to pick a strong side.

We know we've got definitely one missing out through suspension. I'm pretty sure on the back of the Reading game and the physicality involved in that we might be a couple short in terms of injuries. So we'll go as strong as we possibly can.

Has it been difficult in any way to get the players motivated for this competition?

I have to be honest that, I understand what you're saying. Dead right in terms of there's no real public expectation or exposure in terms of this competition. They’re professional footballers. Motivation doesn't come into it. It's performance, game contribution.

As always, I'll be looking back at it and saying who contributed to the game enough to warrant more game time. And for those involved, where it kind of broke down too often tonight.

Isaac Hutchinson seems to be playing with a bit more confidence…

Yeah, he's getting there. I think we're moving towards where we want Isaac to be. He's a player we need to get on the ball in space. When we do that, he's got extreme quality and he's added to his goal tally again. So he's got a goal in him and he came on at the weekend when Promise and affected that game in a positive way.

So, he's a good example of maybe not the start he'd have imagined or would have quite wanted in terms of his performances, but he's fought his way back for a good attitude, good training and starting to take his opportunities now.

At what point did you know that Chris was going to be in a position that he was able to start?

Only at the weekend. Look, we were having discussions about half an hour and the last half an hour of the game. But then, with no disrespect to Chrissy’s running style in the game, it was, could we get that to 45? And if it was 45, could we start him? And I think that was the most sensible thing to do because then we could tap him up at half time.

So, yeah, we kind of learnt that over the weekend but also that was symptom dependent. Every day he's been getting less reaction or less pain or feeling it less and being more confident with it. That's the best way to describe that leg on the back of a broken bone. He's more and more confident in terms of where his game and his body is at.

He’ll need a little bit of time, but great just to have him back on the pitch.

How’s Promise Omochere on the back of his injury on Saturday?

He's okay. Better than expected. When a player comes off in the first half, as a manager, you fear the worst. So better than expected. We'll know in the next few days. We don't think there's a major issue there which would be weeks and months.

So a race against time for possibly this weekend or possibly next weekend.

Have you had a chance to speak to Shaq Forde on the back of the racist abuse he received at the weekend?

Yes, and not only Shaq, because he's not the only one. We've had it with a couple of players in the last couple of weeks. What do you say? We support them. We are as a club, as a manager, as a group of staff, as a group of players, totally against what's happening in terms of the abuse and the racist abuse, which has been obviously made public.

The club have put out a a statement on Sunday is the best way for me to describe that, a worded statement.

But you feel powerless. You want to do more. You want to make a stand against it, and a physical stand against it and a public stand against it. But yeah, we're so limited in terms of what we can do. The group aren't in a particularly good place on the back of it and it's not just our fans, obviously, there's been exposure and discussions of how to manage the stadium in a better way when we go away from home.

But social media has certainly allowed avenues towards players for people to give online abuse. It's not acceptable in any way and we support our players as best we possibly can. But yeah, for a young group of men and from all different backgrounds, different walks of life, it's been a challenging couple of weeks.

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