Bristol Rovers verdict: The return of Chris, Gas still leaky and a miserable EFL Trophy campaign

Although it would have taken a miracle for Bristol Rovers to make the knockout stages of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy going into their final group game against Exeter City, their exit from the competition was officially confirmed with a 3-2 defeat at home.

It's a sentence that won't begrudge many given the controversies that engulf this tournament in its modern-day format with the other cup competition Rovers are playing in later this week certainly a much more significant priority.

For a game that meant very little with Exeter already through, it was an entertaining clash with some standout performers from a Gas perspective as well as players with moments they won't want to watch back.

Matt Taylor made nine changes from the 1-0 loss at Reading three days prior so it was largely a side made up of players who have struggled for league minutes lately. The only concern with exiting this competition is how many opportunities might some of those individuals get as the season goes on to prove they should be starting in League One.

Despite being a bit of a dead-rubber meeting, there were certainly some talking points to take away from the game. Here are some of the stand outs...

Chris Martin makes highly-anticipated return from injury

Although it wasn't a memorable display from the striker, just having him back available is a boost for Rovers. It was always expected that the 35-year-old would make his return from injury this week but it wasn't quite clear whether Tuesday night was slightly too soon or not.

On a night where last season's top scorer received very little service, Martin got 45 minutes into the tank and you would expect that his load will be managed with a slight increase against Weston-super-Mare on Saturday.

Matt Taylor did admit that Promise Omochere's ankle issue isn't as bad as first feared meaning that Rovers aren't as short up front as they thought they might have been but having one of the best finishers in League One back available certainly bolsters the arsenal.

On the striker's return, Taylor said: "[He] seems okay. Frustrated. We didn't quite get in the service. We didn't get enough box entries in that first half for him to feed off. So he’s a bit frustrated but the big thing for Chris is just to stay fit and get minutes under his belt.

"We were having discussions about half an hour and the last half an hour of the game. But then, with no disrespect to Chrissy’s running style in the game, it was, could we get that to 45? And if it was 45, could we start him? And I think that was the most sensible thing to do because then we could tap him up at half time.

"So, yeah, we kind of learnt that over the weekend but also that was symptom dependent. Every day he's been getting less reaction or less pain or feeling it less and being more confident with it. That's the best way to describe that leg on the back of a broken bone. He's more and more confident in terms of where his game and his body is at.

"He’ll need a little bit of time, but great just to have him back on the pitch."

Individual errors once again with Gas still leaky

Mistakes happen but the frequency at which they're still occuring for Rovers is now at hair-pulling levels of frustration. Exeter's first two goals both came from individual errors while their third was also a seriously poor one to concede.

For the first, a pretty average cross from the left came into the penalty area which Michael Forbes swung a leg at but completely missed the ball, allowing Jay Bird to tap home from close range.

The second goal is the most frustrating because Connor Taylor had been having a great night, looking solid at the back and scoring his first goal in blue-and-white quarters since his effort in the infamous 7-0 win over Scunthorpe United. However, slipping over and then standing on the ball to allow Millenic Alli a straightforward finish is a head in hands moment for the defender who we know is capable of so much more.

In regards to the third, you could argue that it's another indiviudal mistake with Jake Garrett seemingly slipping but it's not as obvious. However, the fact that a cross went past four players in blue before being turned home by Demetri Mitchell is the major point that needs to be addressed and improved on because the Gas are still looking leaky which is a concern.

Isaac Hutchinson clearly growing in confidence after bright display

Easily Rovers' best player on the night was Isaac Hutchinson who is now looking increasingly like the player the club hoped they were getting when they invested in him this summer.

By no means has it been a straightforward start for the attacking midfielder. He's struggled to impact games in the way he would obviously like and has seen himself struggle to get meaningful minutes off the bench. He didn't even make the squad to face Peterborough United in September.

It's still going to take time with the 24-year-old but the confidence he had when on the ball against Exeter as well as some of the passes his made alongside a decent finish for the goal was a significant improvement on the back of scoring against Huddersfield Town and looking dangerous against Reading.

Asked if he feels as though that goal against Huddersfield was a turning point for him, Hutchinson said: "Yeah, definitely. I think the break gave me an opportunity to not think about football for a bit and just get away from it and regroup a bit and and I think it done me good because it was a really frustrating time before that, stop start, started in the team and then I'm out of the team and not getting on. It's always frustrating when that happens especially when you're new to the club and you wanted to make an impression and hit the ground running and stuff.

"I think the Huddersfield goal was a big weight lifted just to get that first league goal especially and has definitely given me a bit of confidence to push on."

A miserable Bristol Street Motors Trophy campaign comes to an end

As said above, you won't find many fans overly begrudged about Rovers' early exit from this competition and, although the argument will always be that professional players should be motivated for every game, you can understand why it might take more effort to get the juices flowing for these matches than it does for a league contest.

Regardless, based on the players that have been playing for the Gas in this competition and the teams in their group, you would like to think that they should have been able to progress to the knockout stages comfortably.

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It's always tough to get a proper assessment of the quality of the academy sides that play in this competition but the fact that Tottenham had the likes of Mikey Moore, who made his first Premier League start over the weekend, and Will Lankshear, who has been playing in the Europa Conference League for the Spurs first-team, involved it was always going to be a tricky affair.

The whole situation with the extra point for winning a penalty shootout is what it is and Jake Garrett was unfortunate to be the man that missed the decisive penalty. However, it's the Swindon loss that makes Rovers' group stage performance a miserable one.

We've dissected it previously so we don't need to dive in again and revisit the horrors of that evening but that's the result that's proven costly.

Taylor has already said he plans to go strong for the FA Cup game on Saturday, mainly because his current situation probably means he can't afford to play a second-string side, but even if Rovers progress, without this competition you do wonder where some players who haven't been making league squads let alone the starting line up will get opportunities to try and show that they are improving and should be playing in the league.

Injuries will occur no doubt, especially over the festive period. But these games have been three opportunities for players on the fringes to make a real statement and, on the whole, no one has really done that.