During the aftermath of Rovers dropping points late on in their 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers, courtesy of a Chris Lines volley from 20-yards, Tony Mowbray confronted the clubs’ media team to discuss the overall performance and the bitter blow which occurred in the 94th minute.
“Today’s result is obviously disappointing, but that’s football and we just have to accept it and move on. We all have to keep believing, as I’ve been telling the players. We’re in the box seat to secure promotion and with only 1 defeat in around 30-odd games, they’ve shown great resilience throughout the whole season. We’ve had a tough week, with the travelling to Gillingham and then down to Bristol, yet I’m delighted with the effort, performance and desire the lads have shown, however, I’m disappointed with the goal right at the death today.
“At the end, we had some 2-on-1 chances on the break which made it seem like, had we picked the right pass, we would have scored, but credit to them because they kept at it and continued to pile the pressure. The nature of their goal was disappointing because it came from a long throw-in and we should have been seeing them off all day, but we can’t dwell on it as we have to move onto the next one.
“We’re disappointed in the dressing room because we’ve allowed them to snatch the 2 points we were here for in such a disappointing circumstance. The lads are a resilient group, they’ve worked extraordinarily hard and have had a tough week with all the travelling. The travelling has taken its toll on the likes of Corry Evans and Bradley Dack, who have had tight hamstrings in recent weeks, yet I believe that they and the rest of the squad were fantastic, they were fighting for the cause today and I’m disappointed for them that they couldn’t finish the game with all 3 points secured.”
The gaffer was asked whether any conciliation came from the fact that Wigan Athletic only managed to pick up a point in their fixture against Rotherham United.
“It doesn’t matter to us, we just have to focus on winning our games and accumulating the points. We’re still in the box seat for promotion, yet, if we came here mid-season, we would have probably got here, scored some goals, entertained the supporters, won the match, got on the bus, then went home. The tension and the fatigue issues have potentially costs us 2 points in this game, yet the players have done amazingly well today and were extremely unlucky not to come away with all 3 points. To try and get promoted, you need to deal with ups and downs, so hopefully we can turn this negative into a positive on Thursday against Peterborough United, which I’m sure the players will be ready for.
“I would never question the desire and the commitment of the players because I believe that they’re a fantastic group of lads and I’ve been saying that all season. Their spirit is getting them through and for any team in any league in the world to only have 1 defeat in 30-odd matches, including an 18-match unbeaten run, is fantastic and it’s going to take a really good team to take maximum points off us. I just want to move on and play the next game now, and I’m sure the players are the same. We’ve had some good results when we’ve been playing at home in-front of the Sky cameras, so hopefully we can replicate that on Thursday.”
