After Rovers conceded two sloppy goals in their 2-2 draw at home to Scunthorpe United, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray spoke with the clubs’ media team about the result and how the draw would affect the overall league table.
“It was a performance that deserved all three points, it was a frustrating game and the nature of the goals we conceded were not like us really, especially with the way we’ve been defending recently, yet we handed them two goals on a plate today. We never really managed to cement our authority on the game as they found a way to quickly get back into the game. You have to give them credit because they’re a good side, they’re a well-coached side and we worked hard on trying to deny them the space they’d get with their system, however there are a lot of positives today, as we produced some really good stuff.
“I think Bradley Dack deserved a goal tonight because he worked extremely hard for the team and he’s been in good form recently. It’s also his birthday tomorrow (31st December), so it would have been nice for him to nick a goal, but regardless, we need to keep going, keep asking questions of the opposition we come up against and keep our performance and intensity levels as high as we can. What we know, is that it’s a tough league and Scunthorpe are one of the best in it. We’ve had times where we’ve lost these types of games and moaned about them, but we need to put this game behind us and move on.
“I hope the players take the positives out of today’s game, much like I have. These are a good side, and as I’ve said they’re well-coached and have a specific way of playing and I thought that we managed their threat well generally as I don’t think they built up a head of steam like some teams have, they just capitalised on isolated individual errors. I thought we did enough to win today, but we just have to put the point in the bag and move on.
“Today was a missed opportunity with Wigan only managing a draw yesterday, but we just need to keep going. We know that Wigan aren’t going anywhere and for the moment neither are Shrewsbury, but we still have a lot of games left to play, we just have to remain consistent. It’s going to be tough for every team to play in two days’ time and we’ve picked up a few knocks and injuries today, we’ll assess everyone tomorrow and then see who we can field at Rotherham. It’s tough for everyone up and down the league, and I’m hoping that Rotherham have picked up a few niggles today. Danny Graham felt his hamstring being a bit tight at half-time, so he didn’t want to risk it for much longer, but hopefully he’ll be okay in a few days, but we also need to be mindful that we’re driving players of a certain age hard, and the last thing we need are long-term injuries.
“The goals today were ‘classic Danny Graham’, they were clinical finishes. You know with Danny that you get his faultless work-rate, but you also get that quality in knowing where the back of the net is. He’s in the autumn of his career, yet he’s found an effort and a desire to help this club try and bounce back to the Championship with his goals. I’m sure with Danny Graham being Danny Graham, he’ll want to finish atop of the goal-scoring charts and today has done nothing to harm his chances.
“Danny’s really important for us and always has been. We’ve tried to create some competition within the forward areas which (Joe) Nuttall, (Dominic) Samuel, (Marcus) Antonsson and (Bradley) Dack have all brought, and they all have to try and stake a claim in the side by scoring goals. I don’t really care who scores them, as long as they work hard and somehow manage to find the net, then I’ll be happy.”
Mowbray was also asked to look ahead to the game against Rotherham United which falls on New Years’ Day and how he believed Rovers would fair against an in-form Rotherham side.
“I saw the other day that they were top-scorers at home in the league this year, so it’s going to be a difficult challenge. They’ll play on the front-foot, they have a physical presence which could test us and hopefully we can go there and give a good account of ourselves.”
