Joey Barton joked that Bristol Rovers had been punished by Murphy’s Law as they succumbed to a dismal defeat at Oldham Athletic on Tuesday.
Defensive stalwart Connor Taylor was withdrawn from Barton’s starting XI in the warm-up at Boundary Park after feeling discomfort around his heart.
A reshuffled defence was all at sea in the first minute of the game and the Latics took the lead through Davis Keillor-Dunn’s ruthless finish, with things getting worse midway through the half when Barton took off creative talisman Antony Evans.
