After lighting up Brunton Park with his passing ability and his eye for goal in Rovers’ 5-1 victory over Carlisle United in the 1st round of the 2018-19 Carabao Cup, Bradley Dack spoke to the club’s media team as he reflected on a good night’s work, which saw him put in a man of the match performance, after notching 2 goals and 3 assists.
“It was a really enjoyable night and it’s nice to come away with such a big win. We probably should have ended with more than the 5 goals we scored, but the main thing from this game we need to improve upon, is our defending, as the gaffer wasn’t happy with the number of shots they had. There are plenty of positives, but also plenty we can work on. There are bigger teams than us who have tonight, lost against lower league opposition, so we’ve done well to come away from here with the victory.
“It’s disappointing for me, not to be standing here with the match ball under my arm, after the number of second-half chances I had, but it was one of those days where, whatever I did after the break, I couldn’t find the back of the net. Despite that, I’m delighted with my contribution tonight and with the fact we’re in the next round.
“I thought I’d secured the treble in the second-half, but my shot cannoned off the crossbar, after their goalie made a great save. I had to go up and ask him after the game whether he had saved it, because I wasn’t sure, but he said he managed to get a touch on it, so fair play to him.
“My second goal was nice, but it couldn’t have been possible without the great ball from Trav (Lewis Travis). Him and Joe (Rothwell) especially were brilliant at wrapping the ball through the lines, which is something we’ve worked on in training, so hopefully if they continue that level of passing, I can continue to hopefully find the back of the net!
“To be a part of the attacking unit tonight, was really enjoyable and we enjoy playing together, which I’m sure could be seen from the stands. Our play is very fluid, as Kasey (Palmer) likes to come in off the left whilst Bull (Craig Conway) likes to stay out wide, which gives our attack, a good balance, whilst Arma (Adam Armstrong) is more than capable of playing with his back to goal, which gives him the opportunity to either turn and shoot, or pop balls back to any of us making the run forwards. Obviously Arma’s natural game is to run in behind and he did that exceptionally well tonight.
“Kasey was brilliant on Saturday against Millwall, and I thought he was our best attacking player. The goal he’s scored tonight is definitely going to help his confidence going forward in terms of making and scoring goals and I’m delighted for him that he’s opened his account for the club.
“Arma is a brilliant player, who does what he does by making those runs beyond the opposition backline. We’re more than happy, as a squad, to have him within our ranks and tonight he was brilliant as he showed off his awareness and his finishing ability. He’s a great signing for the club and one which we all wanted to see be completed, but thankfully that’s all sorted, and he can use tonight as a springboard to kick on for us, this season.
“Both Arma and Danny (Graham) are brilliant players, but it’s different playing with each of them. Arma likes to stretch defences and run in behind, whereas Danny’s more of a target man who you can bounce things off, whilst he makes his way into the box. The main thing from a team perspective, is that they both score goals, which is what they’re paid to do.
“It’s nice to get through into the 2nd round as the gaffer said to us to ‘make sure we win’ before the game, in order to avoid embarrassment at the hands of a lower league club, and thankfully we’ve done what he asked for. We started the game well and were a bit unlucky to concede the goal we did. From the restart after their goal, we had to regroup for 10 minutes, and I believe that after we made it 3-1, we controlled the game.”
After talking about Tuesday’s game and the advancement in the cup, Dack directly turned his attentions to Saturday’s game, which is an away trip to Hull City.
“It’s nice to get our first win of the season tonight, but we need to start getting 3 points in the league, which will hopefully come on Saturday at Hull. I definitely believe that, we could have been standing here, with 6 points from 2 games on the board and it’s a bit disappointing to only have 2. If you look at the way we played in both games, I believe that we deserved more than we got. Of course, conceding to Ipswich in the last few minutes was tough to take, and then the second-half against Millwall could have easily seen us go 1-0 up on another day, but we’re still finding our feet in the Championship, which is something we have to do quickly before we fall into a habit of drawing, which, if coupled with a loss, will make the wins even harder to achieve.
“I do believe that we’re more than capable of producing better results and performances in this division, as we’ve got good players, a good team spirit and a good setup behind us, in terms of the manager and his staff. The key for us now, is to pick up the first league win, which will act as a catalyst for the rest of the season.”
