Bristol Rovers' winless run in League One stretched to five games on Tuesday with a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich Town. It always had the makings of a difficult night on the road at the league leaders, but it became a bad one in the final minutes.
With the game beyond them deep in the second half, Joey Barton's attention was already turning to the next assignment for the Gas – Lincoln City at the Mem on Saturday. Goals from Conor Chaplin and Lee Evans either side of half time put Ipswich out of sight.
This was a lost battle, but the war continues and the manager was in damage-limitation mode, wrapping key players in cotton wool and looking forward to getting out of Portman Road and planning for a pair of winnable games on home turf.
