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.
