Rovers need to cut out mistakes if they are to start climbing the Championship table, says Valerien Ismael.
Ismael felt his side were not good enough with the ball at Charlton, and it was a similar story for Swansea’s winner after losing possession cheaply near the touchline.
The head coach is staying calm but admits he needs to start seeing more from the performances as Rovers chase a first home victory.
“We have to be better in-possession and stay calm, we are losing the ball too easily and giving it to the opponent,” he told Radio Lancashire.
“We stay calm and work with the players but at some point, we need to see a result and a performance.
“The players have high standards, high ambitions this season and some players are in the national team, they want to go to the World Cup, so the performance has to be better.
“We need to improve now and see more from the players to make sure we give us the chance to compete.
“When we are doing the right things, we can compete with anyone and we are on top of games. But if we are not ready or too many mistakes, you will get punished in this league because it is ruthless.”
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Ismael made three changes from the side that lost at The Valley, with Andri Gudjohnsen making his first start since his switch from Gent. Sean McLoughlin and Yuri Ribeiro also returned to the backline.
The boss wants to see strong competition for places across the pitch as the games come thick and fast in the Championship.
“We are at a point now where we assess the performance as well. I think we gave enough time to everyone to settle, adapt and transition,” he explained.
“Coming into a new country and new league, we didn’t rush players and we gave them time to assess them.
“But I think it is time to assess the performance and now it is game to game with the performance. We have an almost full squad at the minute so we need that competition as well.
“We need to perform on the high level and the best way to do that is to have that competition within the squad.”
Ismael was clearly frustrated after the final whistle as another controversial penalty call went against his side.
When asked how difficult it is to stay calm in those moments, he replied: “They cannot expect it from us, at some point, that we are not showing emotion because it has been a lot for us.
“When you start getting wrong decision, wrong decision, you have to take it on the chin and go again.
“Then comes the next one two days later and it just destroys your work, it destroys your momentum.
“We don’t want to be a victim and complain, but I think it is a fact on the table and a clear disadvantage for us.
“Especially at the beginning of the season when you try to get the momentum, to have some wins and clean sheets.
“Instead, you are losing games so it makes it difficult, mentally, but we have to show resilience now and get our heads right for the game on Saturday.”
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