Kean regularly uses statistics to shield himself from growing criticism of his record but the Scot knows the important numbers are not adding up for his side this season. The 3-1 defeat at Stoke saw Rovers drop to the foot of the Premier League, having won just once this season and taken only three points from their last eight matches. Kean is three weeks from his first anniversary of taking over from Sam Allardyce but in his 34 Premier League matches he has recorded a paltry six victories. He rejected suggestions the performance at the Britannia Stadium was a bad one but admitted they have to improve defensively as they have the worst goal difference in the division and only third-bottom Bolton have conceded more goals. "I wouldn't put it down as unacceptable," he said of his side's display. "I would agree the third goal is poor but to come to a place like this and create 15 chances and get 10 on target should be enough to get you something from the game." Rovers were missing experienced defenders Ryan Nelsen, Chris Samba and Michel Salgado as well as left-back Martin Olsson, all of whom are injured. Kean, whose side have conceded three goals in their last two matches, pointed to that as an area which had to be worked on. "We always score goals and create chances so it is obvious what we need to do is work hard on the defensive side and that is the bit which is costing us at the moment," he added. "We need to get an established solid back four like we did for the last nine games of last season when we did not make any changes and got seven results (two wins and five draws). "That is going to be the key, getting the lads out of the treatment room and getting the back four settled. "We have shown in the past we can rally and put results together. "If you look at the stats there are only three other teams in the Premier League that have got more points than ourselves from a losing position. "Our lads never give up, and no matter what the score was they kept coming and kept creating chances (against Stoke). I never felt as if we couldn't get back in the game at any stage." The first half was an uninspiring affair with the only bright spot Jermaine Pennant's inch-perfect 28th-minute free-kick for Rory Delap, who was poorly marked by Gael Givet. Rovers should have equalised a minute into the second half but Mauro Formica completely missed his kick four yards out after all the hard work had been done by Ruben Rochina who dribbled his way to the byline before backheeling the cross. Just before the hour Glenn Whelan, with the help of a deflection off Scott Dann, drilled home his first goal since February 2010 and record signing Peter Crouch put the result beyond doubt with an angled finish from Marc Wilson's ball over the top. Rochina added a late consolation but it was not enough to prevent Stoke putting an end to a run of four consecutive league defeats. The minimum Stoke manager Tony Pulis demands is 100% effort and Delap, who scored his second goal of the season, admitted the players had looked at ways to improve. "Everyone is mucking in and that is why we have been pretty confident we could get out of this run we've been in," he said. "We haven't been good enough, we haven't done what we do well enough. "If you don't do that in this league you will get beaten and that was proved over the last few games. "We've done it in 15 to 20-minute packages but yesterday we did it for 85 to 90 minutes. "It is great we have managed to get the win but we know there is a lot more work to be done. "There is no point in getting the win and then going back into the performances from the last couple of weeks. "We have to go on and be better."
