Buck stops with Clarke over 'shocking' Rovers loss

Darrell Clarke's Bristol Rovers had gone seven games unbeaten before losing to Walsall and MK Dons

Bristol Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke says his side will "take their medicine" but need "a lot of work" in training after their 4-0 thrashing at home to MK Dons on Saturday.

The Gas fell behind eight minutes in and conceded three goals after the 82nd minute as their three-match winning run at the Memorial Stadium ended with a second consecutive defeat in League Two.

"It's a shocking day for us," Clarke told BBC Radio Bristol. "Some of the goals we gave away were very, very poor.

"There were a couple of own-goals and a couple of silly decisions at the back end of the game.

"Words are pretty cheap after a performance like that. We were miles off it, with and without the ball.

"I need to look and see why that was the case, but I also don't want that to derail what's been a good base.

"I said to the players that it's no good me chucking cups and things around. They've got to know that's not an acceptable performance by any of us."

Rovers had risen to seventh after a run of 17 points from seven league games in the first season of their second spell under Clarke, who has previously guided the Gas and Port Vale to promotion from the division.

"I've been saying, week in and week out, that there's a lot of work to be done with the group," added the former Barnsley boss, who reiterated his belief that he will need three transfer windows to assemble his preferred squad.

"We didn't give ourselves a platform, we conceded early and it got worse from there. We never got a foothold in the game.

"Sometimes you get a day when you've got to take your medicine and regroup. The buck stops with me, making sure we get the reset and focus on the next game.

"I know this club very, very well and it's important we react. We'll be back at it next week in front of our fans and get that belief back."

Rovers are 14th and host 19th-placed Tranmere Rovers on Saturday (15:00 BST).