Ahead of Rovers’ final away game of the season, which sees them travel down to the Valley to face Charlton Athletic, Tony Mowbray spoke to the clubs’ media team about the Blues’ recent promotion to the Championship, his ambitions for next season and what he expected from Saturday’s opponents.
“It’s good to see everybody happy following the promotion, especially because all of the staff that work with us are Rovers fans. We’ve still got 2 games of the season remaining, which we’re going to continue to focus on, to try and gain all the points available to us. Ultimately, however, our main goal of getting out of the division has been achieved, which we’re all delighted about. From my perspective, the season ending signals a hectic period for me, as, since the confirmation of promotion, I’ve had non-stop calls from just about every agent in the northern hemisphere offering and talking to me about their clients. The summer period is usually a busy one for football managers, and that workload increases heavily when your club’s division changes. One good thing we can move onto doing now, is nailing down our pre-season fixtures, so hopefully it won’t be long until the supporters find out our pre-season plans in terms of where we’ll be travelling and who we’ll be facing. We’re also set to schedule a couple of friendlies at Ewood which I think will be interesting and exciting, so hopefully we can push on and get the preparation done ahead of next year.
“The race for the league title is not in our hands. Had we not conceded a 94th minute equaliser at Bristol Rovers, we would have been talking differently, and in a more positive manner regarding the title. At this moment however, we’re just going to set out to win our 2 remaining games and enjoy the freedom of playing, knowing that we’re up. If, after the 2 games, we find ourselves top of the pile, then great, but I think Wigan deserve a huge amount of credit as well, they’ve had to deal with relegation, they’ve had to rebuild and galvanise their squad for this season and I think Paul Cook has done a fantastic job there. I believe that we should take our last 2 games and rejoice that we’ve achieved our aim of promotion. Personally, I don’t think finishing in 1st gives us anything bar the bragging rights, so if we don’t manage to overcome Wigan, then I won’t be overly disappointed, because my focus now, is on trying to guide the team to victory in the final 2 games.”
The gaffer was asked whether he knew the reasoning behind Rovers’ strong away form which has led to the side breaking the club record for most away wins in a season, at 13, during the successful campaign.
“I think our success on the road comes from the players. They care about the club, they work hard and they fight until the last whistle. They’re also backed by a magnificent support base, who travel to each game in their numbers and they make every game feel like a home game with the atmosphere they create. These attributes help the team to succeed and I think the players themselves had a desire in their bellies this season to not lose to teams who they believed they were better than. I have to give huge credit to the lads because I’ve always described the dressing room like a living organism which is made up of different components, and yet, when they go on the pitch, they fight as one, which is what they’ve done all year.
“I hope the supporters can come down to Charlton Athletic, have a party and enjoy the promotion. With the allocation being sold out, the players have to focus on putting on a performance for them. We will be playing against a very good side, in Charlton who have had a bit of a resurgence under Lee Bowyer, who has won the majority of his games in charge. The fixture is a big test for us, but one which we’ll try and overcome by asking questions of them and imposing our style of play, as we’ve done all year. We need to remain focused because we know that Charlton are still fighting to finish in the top 6 and with the number of teams all pushing for a place in the playoffs, there won’t be any room for complacency within their squad.
“In terms of the injury front, we’ve had players who have been carrying knocks for a few weeks now and have been playing because of the importance of the fixtures. With them playing through their pains and knocks, it shows the great team spirit in the dressing room and their desire to fight for each other until the last minute, to secure a result. The debate that I have in my mind at the moment is whether I should play those still suffering. I wouldn’t want to play them and then have them coming in through the summer in order to regain fitness because they deserve a break. With us achieving our goal, I think we won’t be risking one or two who have been playing through injuries over the past few weeks, but simultaneously, as we felt last year, I feel obliged to field strong teams out because there are still teams fighting to get in the playoffs and we wouldn’t want to be seen as ‘helping’ anybody.”
