Steve Evans declared that Cheltenham Town loanee Isaac Hutchinson could return to Bristol Rovers in the New Year, after the 25-year-old’s sparkling run of form for the Robins.
Speaking about whether he has talked to Hutchinson to Bristol Live after the most recent 2-0 home defeat against Barnet, Evans said: “No, because I can’t, because contractually, if I spoke to him, then Cheltenham Town Football Club, I’m sure under Steve Cotterill – we’ve gone to battle many times. I’m sure Steve Cotterill would be talking in the press about what I’ve done, so.
“Well, you know, the intention at the minute is that he’ll be coming back. You know, he’ll be coming back, but we’ll see. He may end up there but, you know, Cheltenham Town have got to talk if they want to keep him, because there’s a date on that deal that says it’s finished. And then they have to talk to me, and I’ll be a bit harder, maybe.”
In terms of on the pitch, it was another disappointing result for Rovers as they suffered a seventh consecutive league defeat at home, with Adam Senior and Ryan Glover scoring the goals for the visitors. Newport County also secured a much-needed victory at home against Crewe, meaning Rovers are now only one point above the bottom of League Two.
Speaking about the 2-0 defeat against Barnet, Evans said: “Yeah, I think in summary, that we never get anywhere near the levels that we did for 53, 54 minutes on Boxing Day. You know, there’s a little change of personnel where we tweaked things a little bit, but I think up until the goal, there’s very little in the first half. If you break down the first half, we get into some really good areas, not taking advantage of it. We’ve slipped, or we’ve mistimed a shot or whatever.
“Barnet have not done anything that’s really given us any cause for concern. And then simply, we’ve got a set play getting into their box – within 10 seconds, we’re defending a set play in our box. And then we don’t win the first or second headers, and in League Two and One, you have to win the physical battle. You have to clear your boxes and we never did that.
“We tried to affect it at half time. Again, we come out, where there’s not a lot in the game and then the game, Barnet took over to be fair. We were nowhere near the levels we should be. And for both boxes, we got punished, we got punished for another set play.
“And if you don’t win the physical battle, like I’ve just said for the first goal, and you don’t deal with that, then you lose football matches and big pivotal moment, of course, we have a brilliant ball in with Sparkesy and a brilliant header – fantastic save – as good as a save as you’ll see, but I’ve always believed goalkeepers are there to make the big saves and Dean Brennan’s goalkeeper has made a big save at an important time.”
The defeat against the Bees was Rovers’ final game of 2025, with the January transfer window set to open in a few days’ time. When asked about whether his three games in charge so far have made it clear what’s needed in the upcoming window, Evans said “Yeah, I had a brilliant meeting with the owner myself and Ricky. A positive meeting. He’s no different to any of us. He’s spent his money, and he’ll be more disappointed than anybody in the world.
“He’s spent his money and we’re not getting value for money, so we’ve got to make sure that we get to the January window and, the owner’s made more funds available to myself and Ricky to go to the market, so we’ve been phoning and lifting the phone and meeting players and talking to agents for non-stop since I come in. So we will fix this in the January window for sure. We will win football matches going forward. 2025 has been a terrible year for every Gas fan. 2026 will be a lot better.”
Next up for the Gas is a trip to Shrewsbury Town on New Year’s Day. This year has been a dismal one for Rovers, with 30 losses in 47 league games. Evans will be hoping that 2026 is far more positive for everyone involved in BS7, as the club look to avoid back-to-back relegations to the National League.
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