First-team coach Andy Mangan says Bristol Rovers did not want to risk injuries to their star players who went unused as substitutes as the Gas were knocked out in the EFL Trophy quarter-finals by Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday.
Aaron Collins, Josh Coburn and Scott Sinclair were sat in a dugout packed with quality throughout as Argyle won 2-0 in difficult conditions in BS7, with Ben Waine and Ryan Hardie punishing some lax defending in the first half.
The Mem pitch, typically among the best around at the level, has suffered from the deluge in recent weeks and the groundstaff worked tirelessly to get the game on, but there was no preventing the game from descending into a scrap in sodden conditions.
With that in mind, coupled with some knocks and wear and tear, manager Joey Barton opted to make just one substitution when chasing the game, with Harvey Saunders introduced at half time to good effect.
With a Wembley final just two rounds away, Gasheads may have expected more urgency from the technical area, but Mangan says Rovers could not afford to take any risks in the circumstances, with Plymouth in a commanding position amid the heightened risk of injury.
"We made a few changes, a couple of lads have got a few knocks," Mangan explained. "I know you've seen them on the bench there, but they are carrying a few niggles,"
"We tried not to use them with big games coming up. We tried to give them a rest. They have played a lot of games and they went Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday over Christmas and played every minute.
"They have got it tonight and hopefully, it will be a positive for Saturday.
"If we thought they could affect it, we probably would have (brought them on). The thing is if you put one of them on there on a cold night on that pitch and they get injured, you've got to take responsibility. It's your fault as a staff.
"As it got later and later on, it's riskier for those players who are carrying niggles and a few knocks. We still had chances to win the game and unfortunately, we haven't taken them tonight."
Rovers are eighth in League One and Barton has his sights set on a play-off challenge, meaning Saturday's trip to Accrington Stanley took priority in his decision-making despite the allure of a Wembley final in the EFL Trophy.
Despite making six changes to the XI that beat Cambridge United at the weekend, Mangan believes Rovers had enough quality on the pitch to get the job done.
But two softly-conceded goals put Argyle in command and the League One leaders' defence held firm against the second string's attempts to battle back.
"Not good enough," Mangan said of the performance. "We still felt the lads who came into the team were by far good enough to get the result and get the job done tonight. Unfortunately, we've conceded two goals in the first half.
"The first goal definitely came against the run of play for me. It was their first attack. We didn't stop the first cross, we didn't stop the second cross. it gets looped up in the air and it might be a little bit windy, but can Anssi come out? Maybe. Can Bobby Thomas get the first contact? Potentially.
"Unfortunate there, and then a ball down the side of Bobby Thomas. He runs off Beefy (James Connolly) and that's something we've got to work at. A simple ball down the side and we've got to be better.
"A game of two halves, really. The lads competed in the second half and that's the way the game should have gone both halves.
"We've got an awful lot of work to do, we've got to be better and the next game comes quick at Accrington and we must do a lot more."
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