Embarrassing defeat will spur us on, says Bristol Rovers skipper Matt Gill

Bristol Rovers captain Matt Gill has admitted his side's second-half display against Morecambe on Saturday left him feeling "embarrassed".

Rovers suffered their second home defeat of the season after conceding three goals in eight second-half minutes, which prompted manager Mark McGhee to describe the events as "ridiculous".

The players produced an improved display in Tuesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy exit at the hands of Yeovil and Gill said: "We needed to offer some sort of response to what happened on Saturday and I think there are positives we can take out of the Yeovil game.

"We might not have got the result we all wanted, but what was important was that we reacted in a positive way after what was a very bad defeat.

Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk

myprint-247

View details

Print voucher

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013

"We all knew that our second-half performance on Saturday was unacceptable.

"The dressing room was not a nice place to be and we all stayed behind to watch the game again. It's the first time in my career that I've ever been told to do that.

"It wasn't a nice experience, but it needed to be done. We were all very embarrassed at the way we played during the second-half and we had to try to put that right."

McGhee watched as a free-kick double from Ed Upson and an injury-time strike by Sam Foley condemned Rovers to a third successive home defeat on Tuesday night – but the manager declared himself "proud" of how his players had reacted to the morale-sapping Morecambe defeat.

The manager was also left to fume about a first-half Michael Smith goal that was disallowed because Gill was deemed to have fouled Yeovil goalkeeper Marek Stech in the build-up.

"It is a shame because at that point we had been on top in the game," said Gill.

"We're not having the best of luck at the moment, but all we can do is keep putting in performances like we did on Tuesday night and things will eventually turn in our favour.

"We are desperate to do well. We were training before the game on Tuesday morning, so we're working hard and doing everything we can to try to put things right on the pitch."

Rovers continue their bid to secure their first victory of the season when they return to league action with a game against Aldershot at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

"We'll take any kind of win we can," said Gill. "We've dominated for spells in games, but we haven't scored goals to make that dominance count.

"We're not quite doing it at the moment, but if we keep knocking on the door enough times it won't be long before the goals start to come.

"Aldershot beat us down here around the same time last year and that is something we need to make up for this time.

"We need to focus on ourselves and concentrate on what we do, though, rather than worry about the teams in front us ."