Isaac Hutchinson details key contributing factor to Bristol Rovers' reduced survival chances

Isaac Hutchinson reflected on Bristol Rovers’ recent capitulation that has seen them drop into the relegation zoneSport

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

13:07, 25 Apr 2025

Isaac Hutchinson pictured in action for Brisotl Rovers(Image: Will Cooper/PPAUK)

Isaac Hutchinson will be hoping that his teammates can do their part and that the football gods are on Bristol Rovers’ side to ensure that the Gas’ bid to secure League One survival goes to the final day after the attacking midfielder was ruled out of Saturday’s home game against Reading.

Hutchinson is currently undergoing concussion protocol after being hit in the head by a ball early into his substitute appearance against Stevenage on Monday. The 25-year-old played on but revealed to medical staff that he couldn’t remember the aftermath of being hit with any head-related concerns taken extremely seriously.

A 58 minute spell from the bench, replacing the injured Ruel Sotiriou, was the longest the attacking midfielder has played since the 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town last month. That victory was followed by an impressive 3-2 success over Bolton Wanderers, which also started a run of just one start in nine games for Hutchinson. Eight of those have seen the Gas plummet down the table.

Clearly not having done enough to play more regularly in the eyes of Inigo Calderon, the 25-year-old has largely had to watch on in frustration as a run of just one point from a possible 24 has seen Rovers’ survival hopes annihilated having been nine points clear with 10 matches to go.

Regardless of the outcome of this season, the Gas’ final run of 10 games will be pinpointed as a key moment in the campaign for all of the wrong reasons. However, based on the evidence that the same team, bar the admittedly significant miss of Chris Martin through injury, beat two, at the time, play-off chasing sides and have since collapsed, the issue appears to be a mental one as opposed to ability-related, something that Hutchinson agreed with when put to him.

“Definitely. I think if you are rock bottom from the first day of the season to the end, you probably aren’t good enough and you’ve probably not been good enough over the course of the season,” the attacking midfielder told Bristol Live.

“That is the frustrating thing because we know that we can perform to a level that’s nowhere near a relegation battle which we’ve done, just not often enough.

“I don’t ever think it’s been a question of the ability of the team, it’s been how we get the best out of ourselves and how everyone can get the best out of each other which we’ve probably struggled with. Obviously, adding to that there’s been injuries and people have had stop start seasons and new players are coming in and embedding in.

“So there’s obviously always reasons that you can put into that, but I think obviously every other club has that as well, so you can’t read too much into that.

“Like I say, we’ve got more than enough talent in the team to win our last two games because ultimately that’s the only thing that matters now. We’re not midway through the season. We’ve got two games to try and survive.”

Announced first in a summer that saw 16 arrivals, Hutchinson’s first season in north Bristol hasn’t gone to plan, personally or collectively, although the former Walsall man certainly is not alone in that regard.

Like virtually every single one of his teammates, consistency has evaded the playmaker but his six goals across all competitions makes him joint-top scorer alongside Sotiriou.

The emergence of 18-year-old Kofi Shaw has coincided with Hutchinson’s limited game time with the teenage attacking midfielder starting Rovers’ last nine matches and being a rare bright spark in the majority.

Of course, the whole season and whether or not it ends in relegation won’t solely come down to a run of 10 matches when, in reality, the Gas haven’t been good enough in far too many of the 36 prior to that. However, with this recent streak of defeats coming at the worst possible time in the season, it has seen the Pirates self-implode when all they really needed was another three wins at most to see themselves mathematically safe.

Bristol Rovers Live on Whatsapp

Join Bristol Rovers Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol Rovers stories sent straight to your phone

Bristol Rovers Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.

Through the app, we’ll send the Bristol Rovers news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.

To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.

We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.

To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.

“So those back-to-back games where we’ve won against Huddersfield and Bolton and then you go and lose 5-0 to Lincoln, I think that is mental,” Hutchinson reflected to Bristol Live. “No player in there would’ve gone, ‘It’s gonna be an easy game. We’ve won two so we’re gonna win this one.’

“But obviously, subconsciously, maybe you just think, ‘we’re sweet, we’re doing all right now’ and you can’t do that.

“It’s so easy to fall into that sort of mind frame where you’ve won a couple of games, but that’s when you’re most vulnerable; do you know what I mean? That’s when you can be got at and that’s obviously what happened.

“Then from that 5-0 defeat, it is never easy to come back from and then it’s a snowball effect. You just keep going and going and it’s hard to stop.

“Obviously in that period, it has sort of been the same the whole time, so there’s not really been anything to sort of stop that. We’ve sort of just tried to plow our way out of it and it’s not really happened like that.

“It’s been tough and I think looking at where we were with that nine point gap, it’s obviously frustrating to be where we are now, but the only positive is that there’s still games left to play.”

Bristol Rovers are fighting to survive relegation from League One and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.

All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Gas, delivered straight to your inbox.

It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE

Rovers have to beat Reading tomorrow lunchtime to give themselves a chance of the relegation battle going to the final day with Burton and Crawley in action later in the afternoon. The latter’s survival chances are extremely slim despite having two favourable final fixtures against Northampton Town and Shrewsbury Town while the Brewers are the team that can have the final say.

Between full-time at the Mem on Saturday and kick-off at Bloomfield Road the following week, Burton will have played both Cambridge United and Wigan Athletic at home ahead of going to promotion-chasing Charlton Athletic on the final day.

Win against the Royals, and Hutchinson will have a chance of coming back to play in a decisive match on the final day. Fail to win, and the likelihood is that the Gas will be in League Two once the 25-year-old gets himself back on the pitch.

Isaac Hutchinson details key contributing factor to Bristol Rovers’ reduced survival chances

Tags: