RUFC - Defender 'still points to play for'

Rotherham United defender, Richard Naylor said he was 'gutted' to lose Saturday's game to such a late goal.

Speaking to MillersPlayer after the loss on Saturday, the former Ipswich Town player said, 'We created a lot of chances in the second half but we just couldn't find the back of the net.

'You are going to leave yourselves open when you are throwing bodies forward. We knew we needed the three points really but, looking back, I think we'd have taken one. In the last few weeks we've picked up some good results but they could have been so much better and today was one of those occasions.

'They (Bristol Rovers) played well first half and kept the ball but I don't think Andy (Warrington) had many saves to make and we handled them well and restricted to them to maybe two shots on target. That's decent play but it counts for nothing if you don't win the game.

'We didn't play as well as we could in the first half but I thought we improved a lot in the second half. We created a lot of chances and if you are creating chances then you are going to score goals. But it didn't happen. It didn't fall for us in the box and maybe the final ball wasn't as good as it should have been and the strikers will be disappointed when they don't take their chances.'

The Millers have only let in two goals in the last five games and Richard agreed that, defensively, they were looking good, but carried on, 'We need to win games. We're running out of time and people above us keep winning and if we don't then we are running out of time to make a challenge. We would have preferred to be closer than wheat we are but we're not out of it yet and there's a lot of football to be played next month and a lot of points to get.'

Asked about his time with the Millers, Richard said, 'I'm enjoying it here and our defensive record has been good while I've been here to I'm pleased about that. I've enjoyed playing with Johnny Mullins and I hope I've helped Mark Bradley settle in at right-back. I'm thirty-five soon (today actually - Happy Birthday!) and it's hard for me to play two or three games a week if I'm honest but there's good cover in Michael Raynes and Cressy (Ryan Cresswell) who is waiting in the wings and desperate to play.'

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