Amari’i Bell says Rovers will do all they can to ensure the season does not fizzle out after falling to 14th in the table.

A third successive defeat has seen Rovers drop to their lowest position since August.

Bell scored his first Rovers goal to equalise at Reading, only for the visitors to concede within four minutes as the Royals claimed a victory which moved them out of the bottom three.

The full back held his hands up for his role in the Reading opener, losing the ball to Andy Yiadom who squared for John Swift as the hosts scored with their only shot on target in a first half Rovers dominated.

When Bell equalised with eight minutes to play it looked as though Rovers would be the more likely winner, only for Nelson Oliveira to strike on the counter.

The defeat all but ended Rovers’ faint hopes of a push for the top six, and when asked what the rest of the season holds, Bell said: “There are still a lot of games to play and who knows where we end up. We’re going to work harder than ever to try and do that.

“We’ve worked so hard to get here and we want to work even harder to put ourselves in the best position we can. We’ll be doing everything we can.”

Like his manager, Bell felt Rovers’ performance was good, as they dominated the ball for long spells. However, a lack of care in the final third saw them waste a number of good opportunities.

He added: “To be fair I thought we played well, and we’re disappointed with the result. I thought we’d done enough to win the game.

“A mistake from myself in the first half, and not getting it right for the second goal, has cost us the game. On the first goal, I should have done better, it came down my side and I should have been stronger and ultimately if I win the ball there they don’t score.

“Ultimately I have to do better and be stronger.”

Bell equalised with his first goal in 42 games for the club, firing under Emi Martinez after being teed up by substitute Joe Rothwell. That saw him atone for his first half error but in the end it counted for little.

“It is always nice to score but the result takes that away. The result is the most important thing and we didn’t get that which was disappointing,” he said.

“We were on top, got ourselves back in to it and I thought we were going to go on and get another goal and win the game.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get it right, they countered and scored. We didn’t get things right at the back and it cost us.

“We need to need to look back at that and where we could have done better and rectify that in the games to come.

Bell is taking the positives from the midweek defeat ahead of Middlesbrough’s visit on Sunday.

“The way we played, and at the intensity we did, if we play like that we’ll definitely win more games,” he said. “We need to be more clinical in the final third and have the right organisation and if we do then we’ll win games.”