Inigo Calderon slams unacceptable start to game as Bristol Rovers lose to Wigan

Jan 25, 2025 2 min read
Bristol Rovers manager Inigo Calderon was furious with the way his side started the game against Wigan (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Bristol Rovers manager Inigo Calderon was furious with the way his side started the game against Wigan (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Boss Inigo Calderon felt Bristol Rovers paid a high price for coming ‘late’ to their 2-0 League One defeat at Wigan.

James Carragher headed Wigan ahead inside six minutes, with Dale Taylor firing just wide moments later.

Rovers managed to grow into the game but substitute Jonny Smith struck with 20 minutes to go to give Wigan a deserved three points.

“We came late to the game, it was not acceptable how we started the game,” said Calderon, who has improved the Pirates’ fortunes since his appointment last month.

“I don’t know if we think we are safe but we’re not and you can’t start any game like the way we did. It meant we had to chase the game and it’s not that easy when you are doing that.

“The first one is especially a bad goal to concede and then after the second goal, we had to chase the game. I also thought we weren’t aggressive enough without the ball, we were too passive.

“It wasn’t good enough and we have to improve – we made it too difficult for ourselves. I want the fans to stay positive but we also need to know where we are.

“We are still in a bad situation and it’s going to be this way for a while. We have to do more things right than wrong because of the position we’re in.

“The good thing is we have a game on Tuesday so there’s not too much time to think about this result. We have to make sure we are better than we were for this game.”

For Wigan manager Shaun Maloney, it was the perfect reaction to the midweek home defeat to Burton, who had arrived as the bottom team in the division.

“It’s nice to have that type of result and I was really happy with large parts of the performance,” said Maloney, who saw top scorer Thelo Aasgaard also hit the bar with a fierce shot in the final quarter.

“It was a very different performance to our last game here (against Burton), it was a lot more controlled.

“I quite like what Bristol Rovers try to do but we definitely didn’t press anywhere near as high as we did against Burton. I actually thought it was probably one of the most controlled performances we’ve had since I’ve been here.

“I don’t think the game had a great deal of momentum in it – it didn’t feel like a quick game, it wasn’t end to end.

“At 1-0, I didn’t really feel under a lot of danger and when they tried to play it out, we managed to steal the ball off them for the second goal.

“We needed our goalkeeper at one point in the second half but, if we’d been a bit more clinical, it could have been even more comfortable.

“We’ve built this squad and I ask a lot of the players. Trying to get the right balance is the hard part.”

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