After Rovers’ impressive 1-0 home win against playoff hopefuls Brentford, Tony Mowbray spoke of his delight, after his side executed his game-plan and came away from Ewood Park with the 3 points their performance deserved, as they extended their unbeaten run at Ewood Park to 23 games.
“The 3 points that we got today, were hugely impressive, especially after playing such a tough side in Brentford. The manner of the performance was a good one, especially against a team who, I believe, have a front-foot dominating style of play and will, no doubt, be in the top 6, if not, the top 2, by the end of the campaign. I thought that the concentration of our lads today, was fantastic. We need to improve on the transition when going from being out of possession, to moving forwards with the ball. We only had 1 day to prepare for this game, and I thought they took on the information really well, which is very pleasing.
“I’m delighted for Kasey (Palmer), after he got the winner today. He’s been away from us all week as he’s had to deal with some family down in London, which has been hard on him. Credit has to be given to him today because he worked hard, both in and out of possession. If that trait of working hard flows throughout the team on a regular basis, we’re going to be hard to beat every week. We need to keep going and need to try and find different ways in order to win matches.
“The way we won the game was great for the group, but I’m very conscious of the transfer window being open, as we’re still going to try and add in terms of loans coming in. Saying that however, we’ve still got some pretty key players missing, all of which, bar Bradley’s (Dack), are not fatigue injuries. At the moment, we’re right down into the depths of the squad, so we need some reinforcements to help us through this tough patch of injuries. I’m not looking to bring anyone in to replace anyone else, it’s just a case of getting some help and to swap someone out, who has worked their socks off and replace them with someone who will put the same effort in and keep us going.
“The build-up to the goal by (Joe) Rothwell and (Elliott) Bennett was nice, as was Palmer’s finish. It would have been nice had Kasey done that a few weeks ago at Ipswich, as we would have had an extra 2 points in the bag! In all seriousness, however, I’m delighted for the lad, because he’s had a tough week, but overall, the win was good for both, the team and the fans, as they got to witness our first home win of the season. Hopefully there’s a lot of good footballing people in the stands who know that you can’t win every week by dominating and playing like Man City, which means that we have to try and find different ways of breaking down oppositions in order to try and get a victory. Today, we knew we’d spend a lot of the game out of possession, which meant we had to be solid and work hard, which the lads did and I’m both, delighted and proud, of the result.
“Of course, you need a bit of luck on your side. They hit the bar with a header and then David Raya produced some amazing saves to deny them, what seemed like clear goals. Today’s performance was a collective effort and all 14 of the players who made it onto the pitch deserve credit for their efforts and their work-rate. The performance that the lads have put in today, reflects the views and the mentality of the fans. As I’ve said on numerous occasions in the past, the fans, in this working-class area of the country, work all week to pay their hard-earned money to watch the lads play and the bare minimum that they expect, is for them to put in all they can on the pitch, which is something I also expect of the players. I can feel the games catching up with the lads, but I’m trying to keep them positive and concentrated at the matter at hand. We’ve got the game against Lincoln on Tuesday, meaning we have to delve deeper into the squad and maybe give some game-time to the younger players, as some of the senior players won’t be able to reproduce the performance they put in today, due to fatigue.
“We do a lot of work defensively and on how high or deep we need to be depending on the situation of the game. We’re conscious of the physical attributes of our team, which allows us to change how we play. When you’ve got the likes of Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Amari’i Bell, who are all super-fast defenders, coupled with the left-foot of Charlie Mulgrew and the athleticism of David Raya in goal, you’ve got yourself a pretty strong backline, and yet, despite all the positivity and the praise, we’re still going to be tested defensively in the future, as we were tested today by Brentford.
“I told the lads after the game, that if they can go out and beat Brentford, then they shouldn’t be fearing anyone in this league. We need to look forward to the challenges of each game, yet we need to try and keep everyone as fit as possible. I think, had we included Bradley Dack, he would have added a different dimension to our game, as he allows us to keep the ball better during transition, mainly down to his strength and quick feet. I think we need to be better on the ball, because we can’t hang on for dear life, during every game in this league, but I know we’ll be better on the ball once we get some players back from injury and some new additions through the door.”
Mowbray rounded-up the interview by disclosing some information regarding the potential addition of new faces to the side.
“We’re really close to some deals, so hopefully we’ll have some announcements in the next couple of days, but until we get things signed, sealed and delivered, it’s probably just best for me to keep quiet and concentrate on pushing on, towards Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup game against Lincoln City, in order for us not to lose focus.”
