Following the third international break of the season, Tony Mowbray sat down with the clubs’ media team to discuss Rovers’ return to league action after 2 weeks. The gaffer focused on the threat that Bury would pose to Rovers, following the Shakers’ exit from the FA Cup, at home to non-league side, Woking.
“Following the game we had in the Checkatrade Trophy a few weeks back, I think I learnt more about our team than I did about Bury if I’m honest. It was, in my opinion, the worst performance that I’ve ever seen as the manager of Blackburn Rovers. So if anything, we need to make sure we turn up and show Bury what Blackburn Rovers are all about, yet I’m also very conscious of the fact that they’ve had a disappointing defeat as well, where they lost 3-0 at home to a non-League side, however at the end of the day, they’ll be looking for a reaction and when the game starts, it’s 11vs11 and they will, no doubt, add intensity to their performance. I’m sure they’ll go after every second ball and go into every challenge; we just have to make sure we’re ready for that sort of game, be fully concentrated and execute our gameplay in order to try and win.
“We’re all conscious of needing to turn draws into wins in order to be where we want to be. It’s easier said than done of course, there are no easy games. We just have to keep going, it’ll be nice to turn the draws into wins as we never set off to draw any football match, but we’re going through a little spell at the moment where we’ve had more draws than we’d like to have, but I’m sure that, as the season unfolds, our quality will come to the fore as other teams start to pick up injuries and suspensions and as their early season form spins out. We just have to keep going, keep working hard and understand that we’re a big scalp in this division. We’re looking forward to the push and I can tell the team are in training as well. We often look forward to the matches and set out to win them all, but we also know that we won’t win every game. The key is to stay confident, believe in each other and trust each other that we can get the job done and push on.
“I think we’re in an okay position, the international breaks have forced us into a stop/start cycle, they’ve affected our season, as has the FA Cup, but it’ll settle down from this point onwards and we need to find that consistency both on the grass and in our selection, however we’re looking forward to it, we’re confident in the talent we’ve got and I’m sure we’ll find a way to maintain a finish towards the top end of the league. I still feel that we’re a new team, but I’m not going to sit here and make excuses. If you think about all the players that left us last season, (Lucas) Joao, (Marvin) Emnes, (Sam) Gallagher, (Jason) Lowe and (Danny) Guthrie including the injury to one of our main defenders, in (Darragh) Lenihan since the start of the campaign, it shows that we are a new team that has to adapt and form new relationships and understandings of each other’s games. That’s why I’m pretty confident that we’ll get stronger as the season goes on, especially over the Christmas period, where I’m sure the players will be able to bond with each other and with the supporters during the different functions the club has put on. We just need to remain confident and keep pushing, and I believe we’ll be where we want to be, come the end of the season.”
The manager was also asked about the selection headache he now faces in the forward areas, as a result of Dominic Samuel’s return from suspension, which, adding to the sudden emergence of youngster Joe Nuttall has given Rovers solid cover for their attacking options. He also spoke out other potential youth prospects that he is potentially looking to bleed into the first team over the course of the season.
“Different types of strikers are really important. I think it’s fair to say that Joe’s thrust himself into the selection as a result of his fine performances for the u23s in addition to his first team goals. It’s a great credit to him. There are a lot of other youngsters that stick out in my mind as well, (Lewis) Travis, (Matty) Platt, (Willem) Tomlinson, (Lewis) Hardcastle, (Scott) Wharton and (Joe) Grayson, who’s just coming back from an injury. There are a lot of good footballers brewing underneath what we’re doing that will hopefully stand the football club in good stead for the future.”
