On The Bounce

JOHN Sheridan has urged his players to bounce back and show character after their 4-0 Sky Bet League 2 loss to York City.

The Pilgrims suffered their heaviest defeat of the season after having to play the majority of the game with ten men when Neal Trotman received an 11th-minute red card for bringing down Ryan Bowman in the penalty area.

“It hurts, because we know what we’re trying to do and achieve, so we’ve just got to bounce back,” said John. “We won’t hide. I’ll accept whatever’s been said and face everyone.

“Hopefully, we’ll show a bit of character, which we have done on a few occasions this season.”

“I could blame the sending-off, but we just didn’t deserve to win. Today just wasn’t our day, and I won’t make any excuses.”

Wes Fletcher converted York’s early spot-kick, but John insisted that his side were very much in the game for the rest of the first half.

“I actually thought, in the first half, we did pretty well after the red card,” said John. “I thought we responded really well. Up until the second goal, we were the better team.

“We were definitely in the game. [Curtis] Nelson’s had a good chance, and if [Conor] Hourihane’s shot is on target, it’s a goal.

“I think the killer blow was [York]’s second goal just before half-time. It just set us back a bit.

“If you go into the second half 2-0 down, shooting towards our fans, I think we’ve got a chance.”