After his side let their lead slip against 10-man Middlesbrough, Tony Mowbray spoke of his frustrations, to the club’s media team, as Rovers had to settle for a point, despite the former Boro player and manager believing his side were of good value for all 3.
“Today feels like a missed opportunity, to come away with a win, if I’m honest. I think the balance of the game was frustrating for us. We moved the ball well for the most part, and then we failed to do anything with it once we got to the final third. We picked the wrong pass, didn’t execute what we’d worked on in training throughout the week and even though Middlesbrough were down to 10 men, they remained strong and resolute defensively.
“I don’t think them losing a man changed anything in their defensive structure, but it certainly took away from their attacking intent. They started strongly, using the set-pieces to their advantage, which forced us to defend with everything we had, but I think, overall, we managed to control the tempo of the game, as you would expect against 10 men, yet we’re frustrated that we didn’t manage to get the second goal.
“(Britt) Assombalonga’s goal was amazing. I was stood right behind it as he struck it, and all I saw was the ball curling into the top corner of (David) Raya’s net. At times, when goals as magnificent as that go in, you have to take your hat off and accept that it was a wonderful strike that beat your team, as opposed to a daft mistake from one of your players which let them through.
“I asked Bradley (Dack) in the dressing room, whether he was running through and he felt as if he was definitely through on goal, because he said he hadn’t over hit the touch and he could have got there before the ‘keeper, had (Muhamed) Bešić not pulled him back. I saw the tug on the shirt, and so did the fourth official, but the referee seemingly didn’t, which is why the decision took a while, but ultimately, the correct decision was given in the end. Although the red card helped us control the game better, I have to give Middlesbrough credit for the way they dug in, worked hard and ultimately ended up with a point.
“(Charlie) Mulgrew has recently come out the other end of a couple of uncharacteristic away performances, away at Preston North End and Wigan Athletic, which followed a fortnight of him not being able to train during the international break. He’s now getting back into the groove and I thought he was alright today. He won some important headers, made some crucial interceptions and blocks and ultimately, he opened the scoring for us with a magnificent free-kick.
“I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t manage to score from open play, if I’m being honest, because we worked a lot on that during the weak, especially the execution of low crosses, due to their height at the back. We managed to get into those areas a few times but failed to penetrate their defence and get the goal that could have seen us win the tie. Boro are a hard team to play against. They don’t give you time to breath and their midfield are very close to their defence, which, coupled with their mobile strikers that dropped in, makes it very hard to break down, which is a credit to Tony Pulis, because they were defending resolutely with 10 men. We’re just disappointed because we feel as if we’ve dropped a couple of points, today.
“We’ve shown that we’re capable of travelling away from home and producing solid performances, but this point will mean nothing if we don’t manage to follow it up with a victory next Saturday, at home to Birmingham City. If we achieve the victory, we take the 4 points into the following Saturday, against Norwich City. We’ve got a really tough festive period as we travel to Leeds United, then Sheffield United, following the Norwich game. They’re all huge games for us, but they’re games we should be looking forward to. Every game is a challenge and a test, but we need to look forward to them, not fear the opposition and give everything we’ve got over a short space of time.”
