29 November 2020

Paul Tisdale delighted with FA Cup triumph but rues serious injury to James Daly

29 November 2020

Bristol Rovers boss Paul Tisdale’s delight at reaching the FA Cup third round with a thumping 6-0 victory over Darlington was tempered by a serious injury to striker James Daly.

The new Rovers manager saw his Sky Bet League One side run riot after Daly broke the deadlock after 29 minutes, with further first-half goals coming from Josh Hare, Luke Leahy – who netted from the spot – and Erhun Oztumer.

Leahy’s second-successful penalty of the game made it 5-0 after 52 minutes and Sam Nicholson completed the rout seven minutes later.

But Tisdale’s third match in charge was marred 12 minutes from time when Daly hobbled off with an ankle injury.

The manager said: “James jumped for a ball and landed on an opponent’s foot, which wrenched his ankle quite badly.

“Our physiotherapist is already convinced that he will be out for longer than I would like, so that is bad news on an otherwise very good day for us.

“One of my first jobs is to build confidence and it is a great help doing that if you get some success.

“We were not great in the opening half hour, but we didn’t make mistakes when Darlington were playing well.

“Then after going in front we did a lot of good things. I didn’t ask for a lot before the game, but I could see the players doing their best to apply what had been said.

“We are in a precarious position in League One and cannot afford to waste any time putting that right. Hopefully, this is an early step in the right direction.”

Boss of National League North Darlington Alun Armstrong had justification for claiming: “We were the better side until we fell behind.

“Their first goal came from a lack of communication between our goalkeeper and David Atkinson. If the keeper shouted for the ball, I didn’t hear him, so he should have shouted louder.

“The goal transformed the game. They were given a tremendous lift and our heads dropped.

“We didn’t work as hard as when beating Swindon in the previous round and I told the lads that in the dressing room afterwards.

“It was a disappointing performance, but we have come a long way as a club in the last couple of years and need to keep things in perspective.

“The FA Cup has been a distraction, positive in some ways, but also negative in terms of affecting team selection for league games, knowing we had big ties coming up.

“Now we have to put this behind us quickly and set about improving our league form.”

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox