Matt Taylor makes clean sheet point as Bristol Rovers start to enjoy the benefits of solidity

Bristol Rovers have kept clean sheets in their last two away matches with Matt Taylor admitting that being defensively solid may now be receiving more value than previously

Matt Taylor has admitted that his Bristol Rovers players might be valuing clean sheets and defensive solidity more than they had earlier in the season after Tuesday night's goalless draw at Fleetwood Town saw the Gas secure their third shout out in nine matches.

By no means is that a stellar record but it's an evident improvement with those three clean sheets also the only ones of Taylor's brief tenure with Rovers so far with leakiness and fragility at the back a major issue over his first few months.

Four goals conceded in the last four matches which has also seen Rovers pick up seven points is demonstrating that improvement with the three goals conceded to Derby County last weekend representing 75 per cent of that total. It's of course a small sample size but the four games prior saw nine goals shipped, a rate of 2.25 per-game while just three points were collected with the Gas having to complete their first win from behind of the season, coming from 2-0 down at Stevenage.

It is important to stress that progress is still being made via baby steps but nonetheless they're headed in the right direction and Taylor is keen to see that improvement continue over the course of the final nine games of the campaign.

Asked if he has instilled a collective desire to stop conceding goals, the Rovers manager confessed: "It’s in them. I think they might be valuing it a bit more, whether I’m having to bribe them or discuss at length on a daily basis in meetings or in training. But also a shift of focus in terms of what we’re doing on the training pitch. We could look like the best footballing team in the league but that’s irrelevant if we’re one or two goals down.

"We’ve not mastered it in any way, let’s get that right, but we certainly feel like we’re taking steps in the right direction just in terms of the intent and the mindset of the team. And then maybe supporters will always criticise that we might be taking something away from our attacking work because we’re not working on that consistently. But in terms of what we value as a group, just understanding where clean sheets get you.

"There have been times this season where I’ve been asking the team for clean sheets towards half time. So a 45-minute game to a certain extent which I know sounds so strange but the importance of that and the importance of being level for a certain amount of time gives you a huge opportunity as a football manager and as a football team and I’m pretty sure our skillset that we’ve got in amongst the group shows better when we’re not chasing the game."

Again, it's a miniscule amount of games compared to the scale of the entire season but only Blackpool have kept more clean sheets in the last three games than Rovers which is a statement that hasn't been able to be said previously this term and it does show progress towards the vacuum-tight level that the Gas manager will eventually want to reach. Additionally, those two clean sheets represent a third of the Pirates' total of six for the campaign so far with only Charlton Athletic (four) and rock-bottom Carlisle United (two) keeping fewer.

Regular injuries and suspensions have prevented the Pirates from building any notable consistency during the 42-year-old's time so far but there has also been suggestion that the value of clean sheets wasn't something drilled into these players by the previous regime as much as it currently is which adds to the amount of work instilling that that has had to take place.

Conceding fewer goals is very much a 'marathon not a sprint' sort of problem to solve but Taylor certainly seems to be starting to get more of a buy-in on that aspect. It doesn't matter if it's a £500 bonus for every clean sheet or if it's because players are working extra hard to stay at the football club that is contributing to the noticeable improvement at the back, the point is that progress is being made and, according to the manager, that applies to his squad's collective attitude too.

"There’s coaches out there who just outscore the opposition but that’s very difficult to do," the Rovers manager declared. "The records and data would suggest that if you concede the first goal at League One level or lower league football, then you lose 80 per cent of those games and that’s a big number.

"The first goal is key and, as I say, being level for longer but also the feeling of our group within games and what we go to and go like when we concede and we’re under pressure. It’s always as a manager’s remit what the group needs and I just felt on the back of the Northampton game or the Northampton first half, a different shift towards our attitude towards our daily work and you might say it’s started to work but it will take months and months to really instil that."

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Back-to-back shutouts on the road going into Saturday's trip to Lincoln City is a positive but this weekend will certainly be a significant test with the Imps League One's form team after going 12 games unbeaten as well as scoring a whopping 11 goals in their last two matches.

Currently, the Pirates' backline boasts limited experience as a collective with Jed Ward (20), Luca Hoole (21), Connor Taylor (22), Elkan Baggott (21) and Lewis Gordon (23) making up the back five in the past two matches which also makes the improvement particularly impressive with the majority also starting a number of the previous games.

It also brings excitement, with Taylor adding: "Jed is such a young goalkeeper. He’ll need different experiences over the next 12, 18, 24 months to get him even more close to being a recognised first-team goalkeeper but he’s doing that with us on the job fantastically well.

"Same for Connor Taylor to a certain extent. He’s played more games but Elkan on loan, the experience he’s getting, Lewis Gordon, obviously Luca and Kamil, there’s an energetic aspect to that and one where you can mould and to shift and to improve but also their bandwidth. With no disrespect to the more senior players, their bandwidth is a lot greater and what they can achieve in the game and their own development and improvements is a lot bigger.

"That excites you as a manager. That gets the blood flowing in terms of where you can see Connor Taylor in 12 months, Elkan if he became our player in 12 months time, Jed in two years time. Not only should that excite a manager but that should excite the football club because they'll become assets and not only assets in terms of winning games of football but potentially sellable assets as well."