FOREST Green were dumped out of the FA Cup after they were comprehensively beaten by Oxford United.
Oxford scored either side of half time before they added a third late on on a disappointing night for Rovers.
Here are five things we learned from Tuesday's cup exit.
November a month to forget
November won’t live long in the memory for Forest Green. No win in five games in all competitions, losing four while they’ve not scored in any of their last three games. The month began with an agonising defeat rivals Lincoln City despite a dominant display. Rovers have two games to try and end November on a high.
Rovers vulnerable to counter attacks
Forest Green have rarely been undone this season. A lot of goals have come from mistakes or from the penalty spot but one area they look vulnerable at is the counter attack, as was shown in Oxford’s third goal. Morecambe’s goal at the weekend also came on the break and Arsenal Under 21s caused all sorts of problems with their pace and power on the break.
Rovers often are the team on the front foot and were chasing the game against Oxford so they were always going to be susceptible but it’s slowly becoming a problem.
Winchester missed in midfield
Carl Winchester has filled in at right back admirably, but Rovers miss his dynamism and creativity in the middle of the pitch. He will obviously have more defensive responsibility at right-back and you natural lose some of his attacking play.
A lot of Winchester’s best performances for Rovers came when he was playing in a midfield three at the start of the season. He began with three goals in his first ten games.
Not up for the cups
Rovers are now out of all cup competitions having crashed out of the FA Cup and Checkatrade Trophy this month. They also exited the Carabao Cup at the second round stage.
Admittedly, Rovers haven’t had the best of luck with draws this season but their two poorest performances have both come in the cups competitions against Arsenal Under 21s and Oxford.
It appears a play-off push is at the forefront of the players minds.
Players look low on confidence
A lot of Rovers players are low on confidence after a frustrating month.
Lloyd James isn’t opening teams up as consistently as he was, Reece Brown isn’t dancing his way through teams and the strikers are struggling in front of goal.
Forest Green aren’t gambling enough going forward. Cooper felt Saturday’s result had an effect on the players having dominated the game and it’s all of a sudden becoming easier to move the ball sideways or not take a shot on goal.
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