"For a club of this size, we shouldn't be losing so many games."

Jack Sparkes has said that Bristol Rovers are rightfully facing criticism following their disappointing recent run which has seen the Gas fall down the table.

It is seven defeats in eight in all competitions for Rovers following the 2-1 defeat to Salford City on Tuesday night and four successive defeats in League Two which has seen Steve Evans side slip from the top reaches of the table down to 16th spot.

Only Cheltenham Town have conceded more than the 20 goals that Rovers have so far this season, and speaking post the loss to Salford City, Sparkes said the Gas must address their habit of falling behind early if they are to turn their season around.

"Yeah, we're having lots of chances," Sparkes said to BRTV. "It's just the frustrating thing at the moment, it's taking us to go 1-0 down or 2-0 down to start creating those chances and start getting on top.

"So we need to find a way to start games better, because with the run of form at the moment, you know, we are conceding goals quite easily. We need to somehow find a way to stop that."

The 24-year-old left-back added that the squad is acutely aware of the pressure mounting on them from the stands. For a club of Rovers' stature, the current losing stretch is simply unacceptable, and Sparkes insists the players must take responsibility and block out the noise to fix things on the pitch.

"We're obviously paying the price for that at the moment," he admitted. "But yeah, we've got to keep our heads down. You know, there'll be a lot of criticism and rightly so. For a club of this size, we shouldn't be losing so many games.

"But yeah, we'll have to bounce back, keep our heads down, and go again."