Darrell Clarke: Winner had an element of luck to it

Posted Sunday, March 04, 2018 by PA

Bristol Rovers boss Darrell Clarke admits there was more than a little luck involved in Ellis Harrison’s winner but claims it was no less than his team deserved after beating MK Dons 1-0.

Rovers moved within four points of League One’s top six with victory at Stadium MK but the result leaves the hosts firmly in the relegation mire – 22nd in the table and six points adrift of safety.

The Pirates were largely on top but only scored when Harrison cut in from the flank on 50 minutes and floated the ball in over the head of Dons stopper Lee Nicholls – although Clarke concedes that may not have been the striker’s intention.

“The goal is a little fortunate because Ellis Harrison is meaning to cross it to the back post but we deserved a bit of luck on the day,” he explained.

“It doesn’t matter how it goes in as long as it finds the back of the net – he says he does that every day in training but I’m not so sure…

“Their keeper has made two great saves and he’s kept them in the game at times. We defended when we needed to and I thought the lads kept to the gameplan we set out to do.

“I want to give a big thank you to the fans because they have dug themselves out of the snow and our support was fantastic.

“We didn’t want to let the party down by putting in a flat performance so hopefully this result has justified the fans coming all this way in dangerous conditions.”

Dons did twice go close through Robbie Muirhead, as he fired over the bar on 15 minutes and forced Sam Slocombe into a smart save late on.

But after back-to-back draws with Fleetwood and Rochdale ended a five-game losing streak in the league, Dons boss Dan Micciche was irritated not to follow that up.

“We’ve missed a big opportunity to build on our last two results,” he said. “We knew the first period of the game would be important because they’ve travelled a long way this morning, so we thought that would be a chance for us to capitalise on that.

“It’s the story of the season for us because they’ve had one shot that was actually a cross and it’s gone in. We got into some good areas and our decision-making has let us down again.

“We’re causing our own problems because we gave the ball away in midfield for their goal and allowed them to counter-attack on us.

“It’s a really frustrated dressing room at the moment. I feel for the players because they’re trying their best.

“We’ve let the supporters down because some of them came in at 8am to help get the game on. The players knew that and we’ve let them down.”