DINO Maamria stressed the importance of squad rotation after the Brewers fell to defeat away at Doncaster in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
Goals from Mo Faal and Kyle Hurst gave Rovers the win, with the result leaving a winner-takes-all scenario in the final group game against Mansfield Town on Tuesday 21st November.
With a tough run of games to come, Maamria rested key players, which enabled others to come in and gain vital minutes.
"It was a good opportunity to play some of the lads who haven't played for a while and it's brilliant to see some debuts as well. Dylan Scott was teriffic in the FA Youth Cup and he deserved his chance, he came on and looked very bright.
"Cole Stockton has been out for a long time and we need to be patient with him, he got a very good 80 mintues. It was good for Jamal Blackman to get some gametime and I thought Rekeem Harper looked comfortable tonight. Josh Gordon has been out and he also got some good minutes."
Despite the changes, Maamria was pleased with his side's performance.
"I thought we started the game really well first half but ultimately we lost the game 2-1 and gave two goals away.
"We were better in the first half but Doncaster were slightly more controlled in the second half. In the first 45 we completely controlled 60 to 70 percent of the possession but we didn't get anywhere with it. We tried to play some good football from the back but ultimately we want to create chances and we created nothing," he said.
"This competition is about trying to get the balance right. We always try to win games but you want to look at the bigger picture with two big matches on Saturday and Tuesday and we didn't want to risk too many players."
"It's so difficult as a manager as I want to win all the time, but I knew I couldn't bring Deji (Oshilaja) or Joe Powell as they've been playing week-in week-out so you need to make a few changes and hope for the best."
Maamria wants his Brewers to go far in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy recently renamed from the EFL trophy) competition, but remains insistent on taking every game as it comes.
"We got to the last 16 last season and we want to get to the later stages this time out but first we've got two huge games with Northampton on Saturday and the FA Cup replay on Tuesday."
