Following Rovers’ comfortable 3-0 win over Lancashire rivals Blackpool, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray caught up with the clubs’ media team to talk about the game as the manager lauded Newcastle loanee, Adam Armstrong, after his brace which clinched victory.
“We know by now, that as a team, we need to be defensively solid and work hard behind the ball and that’s what has led to today’s clean sheet, in comparison to against Wigan, where we failed to get first contact at set-pieces. We know that, if we can keep the goals out of our net, we have the firepower at the top of the pitch, who can get us the goals. The timing of the first goal today was important as it was a stodgy first-half. Blackpool, who have some good players, came and made it very difficult in the first 45 minutes. We talked about their captain, Jimmy Ryan and Jay Spearing, both of whom can pick a pass and we had to balance our play between pressing them and staying defensively structured.
“The flexibility of the team was also important today. We lost Ryan (Nyambe) early on in the game and Elliott Bennett stepped in at right-back and looked like he’d played there all of his life and ultimately contributed to the final goal with a great overlap as a wing-back, after we changed to a back three. The players are happy with the performance, but I’ve told them that we’ve achieved nothing today and that we have to switch our focus onto Gillingham, who are flying at the moment.
“Adam Armstrong is an infectious character and he’s in good form at the moment. It’s quite exciting to know that Harry Chapman is also waiting in the wings to return, so he adds to the people that we have who can both, create and score goals. Danny Graham was also fantastic today, but unfortunately, he didn’t get his goal. Bradley (Dack) also got the first of the game and of course, Adam got two, so it’s important that everyone chips in and scores or assists. Marcus (Antonsson) is also close to returning to full fitness, as is Dominic Samuel, so they’ll both be chomping at the bit to get back on the pitch and amongst the goals, but at the moment, those who are performing and getting picked need to keep their momentum going and keep getting the victories.
“We have to be wary that Adam can’t go on scoring goals forever. At 21 years of age, we need to be conscious of getting the balance right and not overworking the lad. My frustration today, mainly, is the fact we’ve lost Ryan Nyambe, because I didn’t see his hamstring injury coming. He’s missed a lot of training this week, and on Thursday he trained with us in the gym, because of the snow, but we have to be careful with all the lads and we need to make sure that we don’t overwork them due to the fact that they work extremely hard on matchdays.
“Adam is a fantastic kid and I know the quality he possesses, he threatens defenders in behind and can shoot of both feet. Strikers go through purple patches, but we need to keep Adam going, as everything he’s hitting seems to fly in the back of the net, which is great for the team. Nyambe’s injury is a real disappointment as he’s only a young lad and this is probably the first real injury he’s had since I’ve been here. He’s a fast, dynamic footballer and we need to rehab him well and make sure it’s not a recurring injury. Danny Graham was a hurting a lot when he came off, but I think that he’s managed to pop the rib out and its somehow popped back into place when he laid down on the bench in the dressing room because he said that the pain had disappeared.”
Mowbray finalised the interview by reacting to the news that Wigan and Rotherham had dropped points following the former’s draw against Scunthorpe and the latter’s loss against Rochdale.
“I’m just focused on us. We have to keep going and collecting points as I anticipate all three teams below us to win all their games. Realistically, I think they still have to play each other, I’m not sure, but all we have to do is keep winning our games, yet somewhere down the line, I think we’re going to be disappointed as it’s a tough ask to win 9 on the bounce. However, all we’re focused on is the preparation for the game next week at Gillingham.
