Matt Taylor drops "interesting" claim on Bristol Rovers mood amid fan pressure | OneFootball

The Gas boss was keen to address the fanbase after the victory in midweek

Bristol Rovers boss Matt Taylor has revealed his thoughts on the ‘interesting’ mood around the Memorial Stadium, after the Gas secured a 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.

Jamie Lindsay’s strike just after the break was enough to secure all three points for the hosts in their midweek encounter, which saw them claim their first victory in three matches.

The pressure had been mounting on Taylor after a run of six defeats in eight matches in all competitions, with the West Country outfit sitting in the bottom half of the League One table as a result.

But the Rovers boss was quick to hit back after the win over the Salopians, as he questioned the overall feeling around the football club after a recent turnaround in fortunes that has seen three wins from their last four league matches.

Matt Taylor on ‘interesting’ mood at Bristol Rovers

Taylor was keen to address any lingering doubt over his position in charge of Rovers after Tuesday night’s victory, and pointed the finger towards the recent upturn in results since the start of the month.

Having come into October off the back of four straight defeats, Rovers earned victories over Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion, before suffering defeat to Huddersfield Town on the return from the international break.

A defeat to Swindon Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy won’t have helped matters even more, but the win over Shrewsbury will have helped to stem the tide somewhat, and the Gas boss told some home truths in his post-match interviews.

Taylor told Bristol Live: “The feel of this football club is an interesting one. I'm constantly learning about expectations, realistic expectations. Where the players expect to be playing, fans expect to be, the whole club.

"Three out of the last four is not a bad return. Nine [points] out of 12. Scored some goals in that time, albeit not tonight, but we looked like a good attacking team tonight.

"We're moving in the right direction. We've got to remember that the Chris Martin's of the world are only a week, 10 days away.

“Gats [Gatlin O’Donkor] is only a couple of weeks away. We'll be adding to this team in the next couple of weeks. We go to Reading on the back of this result and we need another result to make it a positive week.

“Then I think we've got a couple of cup games after that so we get a little bit of a breather from the league. I hope when we get that moment that, league table wise, we're in the middle at least and looking up as opposed to down."

Matt Taylor manages to turn Bristol Rovers form around

There would have been more than a few worried faces among the Memorial Stadium as September came to a close, with Rovers failing to muster a single league point through the month.

Defeats to Barnsley, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United and Wycombe Wanderers saw Rovers slip down the league table as October began, with just two wins from the opening eight games of the season leaving cause for concern.

But since then, the Gas have managed to turn things around with three well-earned victories out of four in the league, with hope of keeping that run going against Reading on Saturday.

Four straight home games in league and cup competition will see Rovers aim to continue their recent momentum through to November, with Lincoln City and Crawley Town both travelling West after an FA Cup clash against neighbours Weston-Super-Mare.

While Taylor still seems to be on thin ice with a section of the Rovers fanbase, recent results have proven there is still plenty of fight in the manager and team, and a united club could once again be aiming up the table before too long.