Bristol Rovers boss Matt Taylor was delighted with a “big win” against Wanderers – but says Ian Evatt’s men were “outstanding” after going down to 10 men.

John Marquis opened the scoring after 10 minutes before Ricardo Santos was shown a straight red card by referee Carl Brook for tripping Aaron Collins as the forward was bearing down on goal.

Antony Evans added a second on the stroke of half time. Eoin Toal pulled one back with six minutes of normal time remaining but the Whites couldn’t find an equaliser.

When asked about his half-time team talk, Taylor said: “It was about staying in control discipline-wise because we had a couple of bookings and understood how the stadium was feeling towards the referee and the way the game was going.

“But also it was about making the next moment count – keep attacking and passing forward.

“So often, you get drawn into playing sideways and backward when playing against 10 men. We didn’t always get the balance right but generally, we still got up the pitch enough.

“We also had to respect what a good team Bolton are. They are a good team with 11 men but I thought they were outstanding with 10, the way they moved the ball.

“We tried to make sure that we only gave them the outside of the pitch, that was our gameplan today.”

Taylor took charge earlier this month, succeeding Joey Barton in the hot seat, and has overseen back-to-back victories.

“It’s a big win,” he continued. “We wanted to back up Tuesday night (against Crewe in the FA Cup) with another performance and I thought we started the game really well.

“We seemed to have an ‘out’ all afternoon, in terms of a bit of pace and legs to get us up the pitch and a real goal threat about us.

“I was delighted to get ahead and obviously the sending off helps us, it is a big player for Bolton to leave the pitch.

“To go in at 2-0, we felt comfortably and our keeper hasn’t been tested too much throughout the second half.

“But then there is a ricochet or a deflection, a set-piece goal against us and we have got to withstand a bit of pressure, and I thought we did that.”