“Modify our perspective,” Matt Taylor says firmly following Bristol Rovers’ loss to Blackpool.

After yet another “soft” loss, Matt Taylor has stated that he needs to alter Bristol Rovers’ attitude toward games. On Saturday afternoon, the Gas suffered their first league defeat at the Mem since August, falling to Blackpool 2-1 at home.

The home team, hoping to get over their FA Cup loss to Norwich City on Wednesday night and avoid missing out on a trip to Liverpool, had a clumsy start to the game. But before making the lengthy journey to the West Country on Saturday, the Tangerines had also competed in the competition on Wednesday. In fact, they had gone to extra time in their 3-2 home loss to Nottingham Forest.

Despite their flawless finishes, CJ Hamilton and Karamoko Dembele’s goals within the opening 19 minutes of the game demonstrated how serious the Pirates’ start to the game was. But, the atmosphere quickly improved when Chris Martin, a 35-year-old striker who had reached double digits in the league ahead of what appeared to be a successful resolution to his contract drama, cut the lead in half with a daring flick.

Even so, Taylor’s team put on a fairly lackluster performance; following the game, the Rovers manager said, “I can’t keep saying the same things after the games in terms of interviews.” I have to alter our perspective on the games.

“In the first half, we were far too lenient. For the first twenty-five minutes of that match, we didn’t win a single aerial duel or land on a second ball.

“I understand that some of them—certainly the younger ones—may not have gone to a Wednesday night cup match before a Saturday game, but they still play exhausted, and you may affect their brains. We are aware of Blackpool’s circumstances, but they exuded more confidence in their approach to work, and although they are a talented football team, they hardly produced a pass today.

“They just got us on the backfoot and we’re really still reluctant as a group to say that’s our best route up the pitch and have a little bit of field position which we needed to start the game.”

There did seem to be a bit of a nervous energy around the Mem at the start of the game, possibly after the disappointment of less than 72 hours previously. However, the mood was it wasn’t helped by Rovers’ start to the match which, of course, was followed up with improvement but still there were numerous aspects of the Gas’ game that were lacking.

“Started the game poorly,” Taylor added. “As much as we’ve started the game poorly, a couple of things went against us. There might have been a different outcome in that start. After half an hour we competed and had a few better chances towards the end of the first half. Their goalkeeper has made a couple of saves with his legs.

“The second half was much better, although there was a bit of a stalemate and poor quality and execution. They also usually pose a threat when they counterattack.

“Possibly a question mark towards the end of the game but we didn’t threaten their box enough that the game was just totally in the middle of the pitch in the second half.”

The Pirates manager was alluding to a possible penalty call in the closing moments of the game as the home team persisted in their pursuit of an equalizer. Referee Gavin Ward gave nothing after substitute Aaron Collins fell down in the penalty area following a clear collision.

A portion of the home support chanted obscenities at all the officials, but the referee was singled out for abuse from the terraces. Throughout the game, Ward issued eight yellow cards in total—five to Rovers and three to Blackpool. Four of the five cards shown to the Gas, according to SofaScore, were for arguments, which helps to explain why Taylor wasn’t too pleased with the post-match refereeing and why it was even brought up in the first place.

When asked if he believed the referee was in charge of the match, the 41-year-old responded, “No, but that’s how the game was.” If you believed the referee had controlled the game or had a good game, you wouldn’t be asking me these questions. The players’ sentiments mirrored those of our fans, who at times expressed disbelief and displeasure.”

Concerning the penalty incident, he went on, “It’s unquestionably a foul. Whether it’s in the box or not, you’ll have to freeze it because it’s a foul. Similar to how there was unquestionably a handball in the wall during the first half.

Their second goal is, in my opinion, the most important. I have to clarify with the officials what I should tell Connor Taylor to do in that circumstance. Jordan Rhodes is offside, and Connor Taylor is backpedaling and extending on the backfoot. Their player receives the ball, makes one pass, and it ends up in the back of our net as he heads it down into a hazardous area.

Does he let it pass through to Jordan without intervening? The first inclination of a defender is to attempt to prevent something from occurring. That’s still offside in my opinion, but all officiating these days only talks about when the ball lands there. However, the action of preventing it from getting there has put us behind the game for a moment and ultimately led to a second goal against us.”