With Rovers’ name safely into the 2nd round draw of the 2018-19 Carabao Cup, following a resounding 5-1 victory away at Carlisle United, Tony Mowbray caught up with the club’s media team to discuss his team’s outstanding performance.
“It was important to get the victory tonight and advance into the next round of the cup, especially this early in the competition. I didn’t really see the need to make a lot of changes to the side, as we’re still early on in the season and the players are still building their fitness, despite already playing 2 games. The only players we left out were the ones who were carrying knocks such as Elliott Bennett and Derrick Williams, who should both be back shortly. Danny Graham, although not injured, also didn’t travel, as he’s been icing his knee after training every day this week, and I thought it would be a good idea to give him the night off. Saying that, Graham’s absence allowed me to look at how Armstrong was down the middle of the park, where he operated extremely well. I also wanted to look at Lewis Travis and Joe Rothwell, hence why (Corry) Evans and (Richie) Smallwood were only on the bench. We tried a few different things tonight, and I’m delighted that they paid off, as the goals flew in.
“Although our attacking quality was sublime, I was very unhappy with the number of shots that they had at our goal, which could have been down to the balance of the team. We played with 4 attackers tonight, which is something we won’t be doing often, but, despite the scoreline not suggesting it, Carlisle did give us some problems. I wasn’t happy at half-time, or at the end, regarding their number of shots, but that was somewhat given a backseat, due to the 5 goals we scored at the other end of the pitch.
“We do a lot of work on the training ground, whether that being attacking or defending, and it was nice to see us score 5 goals. We need to mention Bradley (Dack), because his goals were sublime and spectacularly technical, which is what his ability allows him to do. His skills to turn for his second goal, and then place it into the top corner, was brilliant and we need to keep him fit and firing in order to allow him to hurt the Championship, over the course of this season.
“I liked what I saw from those who came in, such as (Joe) Rothwell, (Lewis) Travis and (Adam) Armstrong. I’m not sure if we can start Championship games with Rothwell in the centre of the park, but it certainly is an option, as we tried tonight and at the weekend against Millwall. Joe is so talented at driving with the ball and recognising space which eliminates slower midfielders, but we also need the discipline of Richie Smallwood and the quick-thinking and brain of Corry Evans in the middle to help in the central areas. Saying that, however, a game may dictate my selection, or my substitutes which may see Rothwell come into the side in order to utilise his attributes.
“I don’t think Adam (Armstrong) will be fussed over where he’s playing, as long as he’s on the pitch. I know how clinical he is off of both feet, because I saw him net 20 goals at centre-forward during our full season at Coventry. I’m happy with his contribution tonight, despite the fact that we have to put the game into context, with it being against League 2 opposition, Adam handled himself and his goals really well. I’m delighted with his goals as it’ll do his confidence the world of good, as we move forward into the Championship, where, I’m sure he’ll be finding the back of the net. Adam has the ability to, not only score whilst playing down the middle, but score after cutting inside off the wide areas. I’m sure that, as we look to add more attacking options to the squad by the start of September, we’ll have a lot of attacking options which will give me a selection headache.”
The gaffer rounded up his interview by continuing at hinting towards potential transfers, as well as not only praising, but challenging Kasey Palmer to increase his goal tally, and his work ethic, in order to improve his style of play.
“Looking at the squad, I think we do need some reinforcements as I believe that there are parts that need strengthening, as seen by the number of shots that Carlisle had tonight, as I was hoping that we’d come away from here relatively unscathed, rather than having conceded a number of chances and a goal. That’s where we have to improve and keep working, which will allow us to develop the group as the season unfolds.
“Kasey (Palmer) did well to get his first goal for the club, and I’m delighted for him. He’s got super-fast feet and he’s very good with the ball, however, he needs to add more goals to his game. My main gripe with him is wanting him to understand how we play, because tonight, I felt they were exploiting his side too much as they were having a lot of crosses down his wing. Although he’s very good on the ball, his out of possession game needs to improve, which is something we need to constantly work on and teach him. We all love his talent on the ball, but when we don’t have possession of it, he needs to work really hard and keep his discipline until we regain possession, which is something we’ll work hard on in training and in the analysis room in order to make him a better player as he advances in his career.”
