Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers were hard done by with a missed handball in the build-up to Crawley Town's winning goal, but the Gas boss admits his team should have performed better and took the chances they created in the Carabao Cup first round tie at Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday night.
Former Rovers striker Tom Nichols, who endured a difficult three-and-a-half-year spell with the Gas up to 2020, scored the winner, profiting from a stroke of luck after James Belshaw saved his first shot, only for it to ricochet kindly for Nichols to tuck into an empty net 17 minutes from time.
The goal came against the run of play, with Rovers bossing the contest without producing enough chances. That was compounded by profligacy with the opportunities they did forge, as the Gas fell at the first hurdle in the League Cup for the third year running.
But Barton believed there was a handball that went unpunished by referee David Rock in the build-up to Nichols' goal, with Mazeed Ogungbo winning possession on halfway and sending Crawley on the counter.
Regardless, Barton was disappointed with his side's performance.
"(We were) a little bit flat," he said. "We only made one change to the group and there is nothing in the cup tie. The referee... I’m not sure what constitutes handball these days. The lad doesn’t know much about it but clearly the use of the arm gains an advantage.
"We’ve still got to defend better at that point, so we’re disappointed. We’ve got to create more and trouble their goalkeeper a bit more, but the priority for us is the league.
"We had to pick that group tonight because the alternative is a load of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds, which wouldn’t be fair on the competition.
"Back to the bread and butter on Saturday and we’ll have to be much better than that."
Rovers return to League One action on Saturday against Oxford United, and for all Barton's frustrations about the missed infringement before the deciding goal, he recognises Rovers must improve when they kick-off at the Mem at 12.30pm.
"I thought we were a bit wasteful considering how offensive they were in their defensive positioning," he said. "I think we were guilty of not using the ball as wisely as we could and if you don’t do that and the game is still 0-0 and you leave yourself open.
"Belly, through his own mistake in the first half, had to make a good save, but you’re expecting the referee in the middle of the park (to intervene) when there is a massive advantage for the use of the arm.
"But look, for us, we’re disappointed to go out tonight. I’m gutted for the travelling fans who’ve turned up to support us. I’ve tried to respect the competition the best we could by picking the only team we’ve got, never mind the strongest team we’ve got.
"The reality of it is we’ve got to dust ourselves down and pick ourselves up for three tough league games now."
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