Bristol Rovers have two games to get out of the League One relegation zone after falling to a seventh defeat in eight matches on MondaySport

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

16:00, 22 Apr 2025

Luke Thomas pictured after Bristol Rovers’ defeat to Stevenage(Image: Will Cooper/PPAUK)

Luke Thomas has confessed that Bristol Rovers are in “last chance saloon” when it comes to maintaining their League One credentials after the Gas fell to their seventh defeat in eight matches at home to Stevenage on Easter Monday.

Rovers are in the relegation zone on goal difference with just two matches remaining to save their season. Meanwhile 20th place Burton Albion boast a game in hand and Crawley Town in 22nd are three points behind the Gas.

Despite it being labelled a must-win match, the Pirates produced one of their flattest home performances of the entire campaign on Easter Monday as they fell to a 1-0 loss against a Stevenage side with nothing to play in the league table.

READ MORE: Inigo Calderon offers verdict on lack of leadership claims after latest Bristol Rovers defeatREAD MORE: What Bristol Rovers fans did after Stevenage loss with Gas on brink of relegation inevitability

Thomas played the full 90 minutes as a wing-back and declared post-match: “We’re in last chance saloon. Like I say, we’re not giving up. We’re still going to give it our best shot and we’re going to rally and see where the next two games take us.

“I don’t think we can have any complaints. We were poor all over the pitch, especially myself. No complaints, but luckily we’ve still got a chance with two games left.

“I think we’re very lucky to have a big chance. We have two games left, but if we’re talking about the whole season, we’ve been pretty poor.

“So it’s not just this game. It’s been the last 40-odd games. So yeah, luckily we’ve still got a chance and yeah, we’ll do everything we can to make sure we can do it.”

Relegation to League Two would be the fourth time since the turn of the century in which Rovers drop out of the third tier but they still have two more matches to try and save the season, alongside hoping Burton don’t get the results they need.

Against Stevenage, it was only the fourth time this season in which Rovers have failed to score in a home game, producing an extremely disappointing xG of just 0.42, having had 11 shots with just three on target.

However, what made the performance and result even more frustrating was the fact that only three days prior, the Gas had gone to promotion-hunting Wrexham and drawn 1-1 with a solid, battling display to stop the rot of six consecutive losses.

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“It’s just the same story isn’t it?,” Thomas stated. “I think we’ve always done well against the so-called better opposition and, like I say, plenty of positives on Friday and we’ve let everyone down today.

“We’ve lacked quality in the most important areas of the pitch, whether it’s finishing or creating a chance and yeah, sadly we just didn’t have any quality chances today.

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“I think they bullied us, outmuscled us, ran all over us. They limited us to, did we have a chance? I don’t think we did.

“[We] huffed and puffed, but no quality. I think we all lacked quality, especially myself. I didn’t put any good balls in the game or get at my man as much as I would’ve liked. Just a lack of quality.”

In order to survive, the Gas need to get more points from their final two matches than Burton do from three. Inigo Calderon’s men host play-off chasing Reading on Saturday before heading to Blackpool on the final day. Meanwhile, Burton host Cambridge United and Wigan Athletic ahead of a last day trip to promotion-chasing Charlton Athletic.

READ MORE: Ruel Sotiriou latest after Bristol Rovers striker withdrawn with injury in Stevenage defeatREAD MORE: ‘I’d do the same’ – Inigo Calderon responds to Bristol Rovers crowd discontent in Stevenage loss