Bristol Rovers boss Steve Evans ripped into one of his own players after his ‘atrocious’ performance in Saturday’s defeat at Cambridge.
Rovers suffered their 20th league defeat of the season, 3-1 at the Abbey Stadium, putting them in risk of sliding out of the Football League.
Ben Knight opened the scoring for Cambridge before Joe Quigley equalized from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.
However, promotion aspirants Cambridge demonstrated their superiority when Knight scored his second goal of the game, and Kelland Watts made it three late on.
Public condemnation.
Evans singled out Rovers left-back Jack Sparkes for criticism, compounding an already miserable afternoon.
The 25-year-old received his tenth yellow card in Saturday’s defeat, forcing him to miss Tuesday’s match against Oldham.
But according to Evans, the full-back wouldn’t have played anyway due to his ‘atrocious’ showing at Cambridge.
“He deserved to go. “He was atrocious today, anyway,” an angry Evans stated.
“He would not have played for Oldham. So there we go. So he’s out for Tuesday; it doesn’t matter to me because he wouldn’t have played anyhow. He was horrible.
“Defensively, we were horrible today; the entire back five was poor.
“Yusuf [Akhamrich] has many plaudits and Jack Sparkes, too, but they didn’t help the middle three, who were having a very difficult afternoon by their own standards and their own performance levels.”
Evans admitted his side was second best against Cambridge, who are second in League Two, four points behind leaders Bromley.
“Yeah, we were beaten by the better team. Comfortably battered. We did not help ourselves enough, he added.
“The performance seemed disorganized and nervy.
“Isn’t Cambridge a top-three team? And they’re a good team, and they’re certainly playing with a lot of confidence, especially here at the Abbey.
“It is always a tough place to come.”
Rovers are 21st in League Two, with 27 points from 31 games.
They are still five points above the relegation zone with 15 games still to play.
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