Coming off the back of a pulsating encounter, which saw Rovers fight back from 2-0 down to secure a draw and a point against Paul Clement’s Reading, Tony Mowbray spoke to the clubs’ media team after the game, as he put his thoughts on the game and the injuries that his side had suffered, into perspective.
“I think, when reflecting on the game as a whole, a point was probably a fair result, however, at half-time I would have probably taken a draw had you offered it to me. Saying that, we all know the fighting spirit that this team possesses, which we showed on numerous occasions last season. We kept going today, and dug in, in order to grind out a point.
“I thought we started really well, with Joe (Rothwell) hitting the bar, and we followed that up with a few good efforts, but they then knocked the stuffing out of us with a goal that can only be described as a mix-up between Darragh (Lenihan) and David (Raya). Their second came as a result of a decent cross in, which we failed to deal with, but despite that, we came out in the second-half and showed our intent to try and salvage something from the game.
“After Charlie’s (Mulgrew) first penalty, Reading looked a bit shaky, which allowed us to play on the front-foot and push for the equaliser, which we also got. The last 10 minutes of the game were a bit scary due to it being very end-to-end, as we left ourselves exposed at the back in an attempt to try and win the game, but, I have to give great credit to the lads for their spirited comeback. It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve lost a football match, which is a good feeling and one we obviously want to continue. Hopefully, off the back of this game, the fans and the team feel a connection where the supporters know that, even after going 2-0 down, the lads will continue fighting, to try and get back into the game. We’ve got another tough tie on Saturday, at home to Brentford, who are a good technical side, so we have to be ready and fully focused for that.
“I think the first quarter of the first-half was good, as we showed our intensity and work-rate, but once you go 2-0 down, you have to change something in your side, and unfortunately that meant Richie (Smallwood) had to make way, which was probably a bit harsh on him, as he did well to regain possession, early doors. I felt, that by withdrawing Richie, we were able to increase our attacking options by bringing on an extra striker in Dominic (Samuel). I think the penalties we scored tonight were clear-cut, both of which came as a result of our good play.
“I thought Dominic did really well until he came off injured, but that opened the door for Joe Nuttall, who came on and showed everyone what he was about, and I thought he also did brilliantly. Joe’s presence was great for us when he was on, as he nearly earnt us all 3 points with his header at the end and his good interplay. I would always back Charlie to score from the penalty spot, as he’s shown many times in the past, he’s deadly from a dead-ball situation. From the moment we drew level, I was hoping that we’d create enough chances to go in-front, which we did, but unfortunately, Nuttall’s chance at the end saw him head over the bar.
“Once we’d got the equaliser, I could have easily changed the formation back and reverted back to a more defensive style of play in order to secure the point, but I felt that, with their shakiness, coupled with the mentality of the lads, that the game was there for the taking. We kept trying to break them down and score for a third time, despite looking a bit vulnerable in the closing stages defensively. We’ll take the point after the situation we found ourselves in. We now have to move on, assess the injuries, see if we can try and sign a player or 2 before the weekend and get everyone ready for Saturday’s game against Brentford.
“Bradley’s (Dack) injury isn’t bad, I just didn’t want to risk it potentially developing into something more serious that could see him going from being side-lined for a couple of days, to being out for 8 weeks. We need to assess how he is before Saturday, and if he’s not ready, we won’t dwell on it, because if we manage to get 40 games out of him this season, that’ll be a decent enough return. We need to be careful not to push him too hard, because he’s worked his socks off since the season started, especially after the mid-week game at Carlisle and last Saturday’s game at Hull. Kasey (Palmer) was brought in to try and supplement the forward areas, but he was also unavailable today after receiving a knock in training, but hopefully he’ll be raring to go on the weekend.
“Although we saw Palmer and Dack out, I thought Craig Conway came in for (Adam) Armstrong and did really well. We started him out on the left, then swapped him over to the right in order to allow his crosses to come in, without the need for him to cut inside onto his stronger right-foot. I think Rothwell is finding his feet now and everyone is starting to see what a good player he is, and we need to find a way to get the best out of him.”
The gaffer proceeded to provide an update on the casualties that Rovers had suffered, as both Adam Armstrong and Dominic Samuel were forced off with separate injuries. Additionally, Mowbray also talked about potential reinforcements, who could add to the squad.
“Adam has got one of those plastic boots over his ankle, but he told me that he thinks he’s fine and that the physio was being a bit over cautious. Whether that means he’ll be alright tomorrow, or by next week, I don’t know, so we’ll have to wait and see. I have no doubts that Adam will be getting a scan of some sorts tomorrow as a precaution, just to see if there’s any damage, or whether he’s just had a twist or a knock, which, if is the case, should be fine. Dominic is someone that I don’t know about yet. He was very slow coming off the field and I think it may be a knee problem, which may suggest potential ligament damage. We’ll have to wait and see what the scans say, but hopefully, fingers crossed, it won’t be as bad as we think.
“The injuries, of course, make the need for reinforcements more pressing. We’ve worked really hard over the past few weeks to try and secure some deals, but it’s been a slow process, because nobody’s in a rush. As I’ve mentioned previously, there are some of our players that clubs have been desperate for on loan and yet, we haven’t been able to sanction those deals because we haven’t brought in who we need yet, meaning the younger guys need to stay around here and supplement the first-team. We’re going to keep trying to bring some new faces in and hopefully we can announce something within the next few days. Any new players need to acclimatise to the group and integrate themselves within the hard-working spirit of the lads.”
