Following Rovers’ comfortable 3-0 win in the League away at Bury, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray spoke with BBC Radio Lancashire regarding the effort his players put in, in addition to praising them for a solid performance.
“The game was never comfortable. I’ve got a lot of respect for Bury, I’ve been watching their games and I think they’re very unlucky to be where they are to be honest. They play some nice football, which you could see today, they put a lot of balls into our box, they got a lot of corners, but our only option today was to come here and win, especially after the run they’ve been on, but we knew we were in for a battle as they were looking to react, get the ball forward and compete, but I think we had a couple of moments of quality that knocked the stuffing out of them. It was a dangerous game for us at spells, but it was one we’ve overcome.”
The manager was asked about Bradley Dack’s performance, which saw the midfielder grab a goal, and two assists and whether he agreed that Dack was the difference in quality between the two sides.
“That’s why Bradley’s here. We need to add individual quality in January, which will help us win games such as this. (Harry) Chapman in particular is a huge loss to injury, as if you look at how big this pitch is; I think he would have been able to make a difference. We need to add individual quality as every team’s organised and works hard and at times very physical, sometimes you need an extra ingredient of quality and class to open up teams, which Bradley has, but we need more than one as Bradley can be the focus of opponents because he can be marked one-on-one. So by having two or three of those types of footballers, it gives you a better chance of winning the tight games.
“I think the defence we’ve got is confident, they believe in themselves in that they can individually deal with most things. It’s okay for Bury to have a little bit of the ball at times, but we looked a threat today on the breakaway and looked like we could have scored more goals, but I’m happy with the points as when you come into games like this, there’s a nervous energy about the team that we have to get the job done. I’m hoping that as we go along and the season unwinds, that, that nervous tension turns into total belief that we can comfortably win these types of games. We should let the opposition feel that nervous tension, so when they set their teams up defensively, we can still walk away with a victory, but I’m pleased about today. I’ve just spoken to them about Tuesday night, I said ‘let’s recover, let’s rest, but let’s also come into training focused’, because Oxford beat Plymouth 4-0 today, so they’ll be confident, but it’s just the next challenge for us.
“Not picking up any injuries or cards today is a positive. Bradley’s got a bit of cramp in his calf, but I think we’re generally okay. I think it’s only Elliott Bennett who’s on four bookings, but we’ve got so many games over the Christmas period, which we have to be ready for. Everyone in the squad will be getting used and we have to try and rotate in a way that we’re not demanding too much on any individual and hopefully we can keep winning. We’ve got a lot of options for rotation, we’ve taken (Dominic) Samuel and (Danny) Graham off the bench today, we’ve got (Corry) Evans, who’s suspended, coming back, we gave Rekeem (Harper) some minutes today, because I know he’ll be needed and he needs to feel confident on the pitch. We’re okay in terms of numbers, but roll on January where, hopefully we can find someone with individuality that we can add to the squad and increase our options.
“I’m really pleased for Marcus (Antonsson). I have to say his physical stats at the end of every game and every training session are the highest; he does the most running in the team, and it’s great when the players get the rewards. We played Marcus in a wide attacking positon off the left, thinking we can come in off the back of their right centre-half. Both of his goals were fantastic and well worked on. I’m pleased for him and for the team, as they all worked hard and got what they deserved, and it’s nice to see that what we’ve worked on in training, has worked in the actual game.”
