As the Rovers attempted to overcome the resolute Forest Green Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium, Grant McCann acknowledged that his team needed to act with greater urgency.
Rovers controlled the ball for most of the first half, but they found it difficult to penetrate the opposition, who sat deep and welcomed the pressure.
However, following McCann’s halftime reminder to move the ball more swiftly, Rovers secured a 2-0 victory with to goals from Luke Molyneux and Richard Keogh, a senior Forest Green defender, who also scored an own goal.
McCann stated, “I felt like we got into some good areas in the first half, but we just didn’t move the ball as quickly as I’d like.”
“The guys should take chances with the ball and create opportunities, but I felt like we were a little too slow when it came to ball possession,”
“In the second half we upped it. It was a good run from Jamie Sterry and a good cross and Mols found himself between the posts for a good goal.
“The build up had been good but when we got into the final third it was just slow. I said to the lads at half time that they needed to change gear – go from third to fifth to get a goal against these because they’ll get back into their shape quickly, they’ll defend their box.
“It was always going to need a bit of cleverness to unlock them and fortunately we got that.”
McCann was pleased to see his side collecting a third consecutive home clean sheet.
“It’s always nice to have,” he said. “We probably haven’t had enough of them this season but we stuck to our task in this one.
“And we had the chance to freshen the team up a bit by getting some of the lads off the bench who have been waiting for their opportunity.”
