James Wilson lifts lid on Bristol Rovers' struggles with Gas on verge of League One relegation

James Wilson lifts lid on Bristol Rovers' struggles with Gas on verge of League One relegation

Stand-in captain James Wilson spoke openly after Bristol Rovers' 2-0 defeat to Reading which put them on the brink of relegation to League Two

James Wilson claps Bristol Rovers fans after defeat to Reading (Image: Will Cooper/PPAUK )

James Wilson has disdained Bristol Rovers' day-to-day standards after an eighth defeat in nine games at home to Reading put the club on the brink of relegation to League Two.

The Gas will have to wait until next week for their relegation to be mathematically confirmed, however a 2-1 victory for Burton Albion over Cambridge United on Saturday, who boast a far superior goal difference, means that survival is virtually impossible now.

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Wilson spoke post-match before kick-off in the Burton game, but failure to win against the Royals was always going to make dropping down to the fourth tier extremely likely.

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It would be easy to highlight their winless streak of nine games, which has seen just one point collected, but Wilson confessed that the club's issues date back to pre-season.

"To be honest, I've noticed it from pre-season," the defender told Bristol Live. "We had obviously a massive turnaround of players. I don't know if that's maybe the thing. We seem to have gone for similar types of players, maybe that hasn't worked. I don't know. I'm not on that side of the business, so I don't really know.

"I just think there's not enough people that can look at themselves mirror and say they've done enough this season. So that's where we're at.

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"It's from the start season. There's no hiding away from the fact that the whole season has been a tough environment for me personally and one I've not seen before.

"I mean, today's game was a bit of an anomaly really," the stand-in captain added. "We haven't been good enough all season. I thought we were good today, but it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, we haven't been good enough. Every day in training, not good enough on the pitch, so yeah, we deserve everything we're getting at the moment.

"I think the energy was better but I just think we've failed in games because we're not fit enough, because we don't work hard enough day to day. So yeah, it is what it is. The evidence of not doing enough."

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Rovers were bright for the first hour against Reading as Royals goalkeeper Joel Pereira pulled off three outstanding saves to deny the hosts a breakthrough.

However, good play saw Lewis Wing break the deadlock which subsequently evaporated any momentum from Inigo Calderon's side. Chem Campbell added a second in added time to put the result beyond doubt.

At 36, Wilson is one of the most senior players in a largely young squad, but admitted that this will be his first career relegation, once confirmed, having won League One with Plymouth Argyle only two years ago.

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"I think that's quite obvious," the defender declared when asked about the club needing to make big changes. "I don't think I'm saying anything that anyone doesn't know. I think big changes, that doesn't mean the manager, it just means standards. It just means things need to be better day to day.

"People get relegated because they're not good enough on the pitch, but it it's because of what they do in the week, and we simply haven't been good enough day to day. Standards haven't been good enough. Training hasn't been good enough, and that's on us as players.

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"I just don't think we've got the energy to get through games. Simple. I don't think the squad are strong enough, fit enough, quick enough. I think last week's game we just got absolutely bullied. I think today, if we'd won everyone's probably looking at it in a different way, but yeah it wasn't to be and yeah, a lot of questions."

Wilson is set to be out of contract this summer and, on whether he had discussed his future with Rovers, added: "No. Not at all. I wanted to obviously concentrate on the games. I think at my age it doesn't really matter to me. I'll see what's happening in the summer and I'll speak to them then, but I just wanted to get my head down and try and win some games. But obviously it hasn't happened.

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"The new director of football has got a big job on his hands. I spoke to him a couple weeks ago and said that so hopefully they can get hold of the club and can start making positive decisions."

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