Rooney unhappy with poor display at Rovers

PILGRIMS BEATEN 2-1 IN THEIR PENULTIMATE PRE-SEASON GAME

- CHRIS ERRINGTON

WAYNE Rooney admitted Plymouth Argyle made too many mistakes as they were beaten 2-1 by Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium in their penultimate pre-season game.

The Pilgrims’ boss thought his side were sloppy and did not move the ball quick enough to play through the Rovers’ press. As a result, they found themselves trailing 2-0 at half-time after goals from Promise Omochere and Jack Hunt.

There was some improvement from Argyle in the second period as Rooney called upon seven of his 10 substitutes and one of them, striker Ryan Hardie, scored a late goal, but Rovers held on for the victory over their Championship visitors.

Rooney told Herald Sport: “Obviously, when you lose a game there is always disappointment. I thought we were a bit sloppy, the way Bristol pressed us we didn’t quite get round or through their press well enough.

“I think that comes from maybe a lack of concentration, lack of ball speed, tempo. It’s frustrating but it’s something we need to work on to make sure we get it right.

“I want teams to press us and we have to be good enough to play through that, and then you get your attacking players on that in dangerous areas, but they weren’t giving us time on the ball.