Last three weeks have been disastrous, admits Gas boss

Britta Zeltmann reports on Bristol Rovers' defeat to Crawley Town at the Broadfield Stadium

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BRISTOL Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke admitted that, other than the return to competitive action of defender Tom Lockyer, it was "hard to look at any sort of positives" after his side's 4-0 thrashing at Crawley their fourth successive league defeat.

Lockyer, 30, who had not played a senior game since suffering a cardiac arrest playing for Luton in December 2023, started the match and successfully came through 57 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium.

But Clarke was left “hurting” after seeing his team concede four goals for the third match in a row.

Rovers were on the back foot from the 33rd minute when defender Jack Sparkes received a straight red card for deliberate handball following a corner from Kyle Scott.

Striker Ryan Loft stepped up to take the penalty but his spot-kick cannoned off ‘keeper Luke Southwood's right-hand post.

Rovers striker Shaqai Forde had a shot come back off the underside of the bar before Crawley broke the deadlock when defender Kilgour deflected a shot from Scott Malone into his own net deep into first-half added time.