After Rovers could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to a strong, resolute Millwall side – who did manage to create chances of their own – Tony Mowbray reflected on the tough afternoon for his players, with the club’s media team.
“Ultimately, we’re frustrated that we haven’t come away with all 3 points. Millwall had a good campaign last year, finishing in 8th last year and were in and around the playoffs for most of the season, which would suggest that this draw today, was a good one. I’m happy with the clean sheet, in contrast to the first-half, which I’m unhappy about, as we never got started. We had no fluency in our play and we were unable to get out of our half, which gave them the opportunity to keep pumping balls into the box, which played into their hands.
“The second-half was a lot better and it was closer to what we’re about as a football team. We created a lot of chances and managed to play a majority of the second-half in their half and we needed something to go our way, which it ultimately didn’t. Danny (Graham) had a couple of great chances, but credit to their goalkeeper, who made some great saves to deny us. I thought (Joe) Rothwell came on and made a difference, we saw flashes of (Kasey) Palmer’s quality and (Adam) Armstrong is a player who gets people off their seats and we need to consistently show that in order to provide a bigger threat. The second-half performance was a positive one, against a good side in this division, and it was a display associated with this team, in comparison to the poor first period.
“The positive signs are there, but it would have been nice to nick a goal late on and get ourselves the 3 points. By the final 10 minutes, I was trying to make 4 substitutes by telling Joe Nuttall to get ready, until I was told that I’d already made all 3 changes! It is, what it is, in that respect. We’re unbeaten back in the Championship after 2 games and we’re still trying to find our feet in the division. We’re still disappointed after what happened last week, as we lost the lead, and this week, we started poorly which could have seen us go behind early on. I think the performance we showed in the second-half must be the standard from now on, against whoever we play.
“With all due respect to Millwall, I don’t think they hide the fact that they are a direct team, a physical, powerful team who ask questions of you at both ends of the pitch. Their physicality caused us problems as we struggled to get to grips with the game early on, but once we’d established what our roles were and what we should do with the ball, we were much better, as shown in the second-half and I wouldn’t have put it past us to have ended the game on the winning side.
“Every team in this league will have something that we need to guard against. Some teams will have some high-quality players who will, at times, zip past our players and create problems for us and in other games, we’ll feel as if we can be brave, play on the front foot and attack sides. I think, out of the sides in this division last year, I felt that Fulham were the best ‘footballing side’ who were capable of causing problems and opening up teams, and they’ve gone up into the Premier League. Middlesbrough, who I went and watched away at Sheffield United last week, are another side capable of causing problems as they’re a big, powerful, honest team who rely a lot on set-pieces, but they also possess the work ethic and quality within their ranks that you need to succeed.
“With that in mind, I do believe that we have to keep striving in order to impose our game on whoever we face in this division. Unfortunately, today, we’re not talking about a tight 1-0 win, but I’d probably say that every game Millwall play this year will be tight, as seen by their opening game against Middlesbrough. With all that being said, we’ll take the point from this game and move onto the next game whilst believing that what we’re doing is the right thing. Let’s try, over the next few weeks, to give the current crop of players a hand by securing a few more loan signings.
“The team didn’t function during the first-half, which made it difficult for Kasey (Palmer) to get on the ball and display his talents, but when we did get it to him, he gave their defence some problems, both with his running ability and with his technique with some lovely crosses into the box. During the first quarter of the second-half, we told him to go inside for a bit, in order to sit in the pockets and exploit their defensive midfielders, which allowed him to get on the ball and link with Bradley (Dack) in a good manner, which we see a lot of, in training. Kasey has to get used to my demands when he loses the ball, in terms of how hard he has to work tracking back. He has to quickly react to the problem and not sulk or get frustrated when things don’t go his way, which will only take time. I thought we really piled on the pressure during the last half-an-hour of the game, yet unfortunately, we couldn’t find an opening.”
With his thoughts on the game noted, the interview was then directed towards Thursday’s transfer deadline, which saw Rovers fail in reported bids for QPR’s Luke Freeman and Nottingham Forest’s Ben Brereton, in addition to the gaffer talking about his plans for the loan window, which closes at on 31st of August.
“We were disappointed on Thursday, not to be able to add to the squad. Ultimately, I feel that my job here is to re-build the club, which we can only do with permanent players. One positive, I guess, is that we’re going to have the opportunity to secure some loan players during the next few weeks, and as we saw last year, sometimes the players we’ve got loaned in can be the most effective players in the team, as they come in from a higher division needing game time. I do feel that the team needs more competition in a few areas, which we’ll try and make happen. If that’s not the case, I know that this group will give everything they’ve got in order to do the very best they can, but I’ll be hoping that another 3 or 4 new faces can come through the door before September.
“It’s very difficult for us to sign experienced players from the Premier League because the stumbling block is usually their salaries, which are over what we are able to pay, hence why loaning in a player is much easier. One point about that is, the loan player is normally a young lad looking for games, like Armstrong was, last year. Hopefully the loan players who come in light up the place with their energy, their drive and their desire to improve.
Mowbray concluded the interview by informing the fans about Elliott Bennett, who was substituted during the final 10 minutes after a heavy challenge saw the number 31 treated by the medical staff.
“Elliott (Bennett) is fine. I thought he had twisted his knee, but it was only a gash, which should heal quickly and allow him to be in contention again by Tuesday, if that, for whatever reason, is a bit early for him, then he’ll definitely be in contention by next Saturday’s trip to Hull City.”
