David Artell faced the media following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bristol Rovers, as the Mariners saw their 10-match unbeaten league run come to an end.

After a difficult afternoon on the road, the Town boss delivered an honest assessment, pointing to costly early mistakes and a disappointing second-half display as the key factors.

Here’s everything he had to say on the main talking points…

On his assessment of the performance:

“I thought we played well for half an hour in a hundred-minute game,” Artell said bluntly.

“We gave them the two easiest goals they’ll probably ever score all season to get them off to a flyer. When a team’s down near the bottom and struggling, you can’t give them that incentive, and we spoke about the exact opposite before the game.

“If you don’t approach it with the right mentality, you get what you deserve. It’s League Two – there are no poor teams. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb.”

After falling two goals behind, Town responded well before the break.

“I thought from 15 minutes to half-time we were much the better team. We get the goal deservedly and we should probably have had a penalty on Cooky as well.”

On conceding from set pieces again:

With three of the four goals conceded this week coming from dead-ball situations, Artell was clear in his analysis.

“Three of them are set-pieces. On one hand, that’s a good thing because it’s easily identifiable.

“But if you don’t do your jobs, you run the risk of conceding goals. It’s as simple as that. One lad doesn’t do his job, the ball drops, and they follow it in.

“Same mark on Wednesday, similar situation today. If you don’t do your jobs, you get punished.”

On the second half struggles:

After a strong spell before the interval, Town were unable to regain control following the restart.

“They changed their press and we didn’t know how to beat it, even though we were trying to give them the instructions,” he explained.

“In the first half, we progressed the ball well and created chances. Second half, we didn’t do that at all. We kept the ball with the defenders but you’ve got to progress it to hurt teams.

“It was both – their change and our inability to deal with it. That’ll be a good one to show the lads on Monday.”

On the reaction from the supporters:

With the unbeaten run halted, Artell acknowledged the frustration inside the ground.

“There were fans booing at the end. We’ve lost our first game in 11 matches, I think that’s a bit harsh on the players.

“But I sort of get it. We’re all frustrated. I’m not sure I’d go as far as booing, but each to their own.”

On the demanding schedule:

After a run of Wednesday-Sunday-Wednesday fixtures, Artell refused to hide behind the calendar.

“The schedule’s the schedule. It is what it is,” he said.

“Yes, they had an extra 24 hours, but they travelled three hours in midweek. We travelled four today. They’re just excuses.

“We’ve got to rest up, lick our wounds and go again.”

He also highlighted the challenges of preparation.

“We haven’t trained on grass for about four months. That makes things difficult. But again, that’s where we’re at.”

On the importance of the next run of fixtures:

With key matches against Notts County, Salford and Bromley on the horizon, Artell stressed the need for immediate improvement.

“It’s always important to learn the lessons. We have to keep improving, keep progressing, keep getting better.

“I don’t think anyone wants the season to fizzle out, and it’s a long way from that. But we certainly can’t have too many more repeats of today where we’ve played well for about a third of the game.”

You can watch David’s full post match interview with the club media here:

While the unbeaten sequence may have ended, Artell’s message was clear – perspective is needed, but standards must rise quickly.

Attention now turns to next weekend’s challenge against Notts County, with the Mariners determined to respond in the right way.

UTM