With Rovers ending their home games of 2018 with a late 1-0 defeat at home to Norwich City, following a Teemu Pukki goal, Blues boss Tony Mowbray spoke to the club’s media to offer his thoughts on the game he had just witnessed.
“Today’s result is very frustrating for us all, given the amount of effort that we all put in, not only to prepare for the game, but throughout the 90 minutes as well. We’ve played against a team who are in the top 2, have a good style of play as we could see today, and give a lot of young players the chance to show what they’re capable of, but I thought we generally managed their threat well. We knew they were going to have most of the ball, but over the 90 minutes, we probably created the better chances. It was a scrappy game, but ultimately, it’s one we’ve lost and although the team are feeling down in the dressing room because they’re not used to getting beat, we need to pick ourselves up and get ready for the massive challenge away at Elland Road against Leeds United on Boxing Day.
“We need to remain mentally tough going into our tough festive period. We play all of the top 6 and we need to be ready for the challenges that we’re going to face. If we end up coming out of the game on the wrong side, like today, that’s fine as long as we stay mentally tough and aware of what we need to do in order to fix it in the next match. By remaining mentally strong, we know what we need to do in order to get the victory against the lesser teams in the division. If we play like we did today, with the same intensity and attacking prowess, against the teams who are down at the bottom of the table, we’ll be picking up victories, I’m sure of that. Yet we’re disappointed that we didn’t end up winning against a team at the top of the division, but that’s a sign to the lads and the fans that we’re able to compete against the best in this league.
“In football, you have to take the opportunities that fall to you. We didn’t do that, and Norwich City did, that’s why they’ve won the game. Danny (Graham) was really good today, his hold-up play was excellent, yet he should have scored in the second-half, but they’re the fine margins of this league. I thought it was a good game overall and one which could have easily ended goalless or with us on the winning side, however that unfortunately wasn’t to be.
“What we need to remember is, is that we’ve just come out of League 1. We don’t have the quality within the ranks of a Premier League side, because if we did, we wouldn’t be here. We’re always going to make mistakes in the final attacking third, because that’s where we are in terms of quality. When you watch teams like Liverpool on the television and see them pick out the perfect pass every time, you sit in amazement, but for us, this is where we are at the moment, but they’re working extraordinarily hard every week in order to try and come away with 3 points in every game. Generally, we’ve been playing well and getting good performances and I thought our performance today was good against a team who are used to winning a lot of football matches.
“Harrison (Reed) should have come off, if I’m honest, with his cramp and I hope I don’t regret the decision to keep him on, because we’d made all 3 substitutions. I thought at 0-0, it would have been easier to play with 10 men and have Harrison standing still behind Danny, which is why I told Bradley (Dack) to fill in at the centre of midfield, which simultaneously took away a bit of our attacking threat. It’s okay though, it’s part and parcel of the game, we just have to get on with it, take the positives from today and try and get ready for Leeds United away on Boxing Day.
“I think a lot of the lads are feeling the effects of the hard-work that they’ve been putting in, not just those who were substituted. I think when you play against a team like Norwich, who keep possession the way they do, push their full-backs high up the pitch and ask questions of you, it’s a really intense day of concentration and physical exertion and that’s what it was today. The lads have given everything they’ve got today and it’s disappointing for their sake, that we’ve come away from the game with nothing after putting in so much effort.
“Our game on Boxing Day away at Leeds will be a tough one, but one which we can bounce back in. They’ll be top of the table if they beat Villa on Sunday, their fans are buoyant and will be smelling the Premier League. It’ll be a big test for us, we’ll have to be positive and aim to go there with a positive mindset. Hopefully we can turn their crowd against them and come away with a good result.”
