After witnessing his side fall to an unlucky 4-2 defeat, after extra time, following 120 minutes of football against Newcastle United of the Premier League in the FA Cup 3rd round, Tony Mowbray described his emotions to the club’s media team, following the scintillating cup tie which could have ultimately gone in Rovers’ favour, had luck been on their side.
“I think a few decisions didn’t go our way tonight. Their third goal is quite clearly offside, and that’s a big thing that didn’t go our way. We also missed a great chance at 2-2 to get in-front, through Bradley (Dack), but he put it wide, instead of in the net. Overall, it was a great effort from the lads and I really feel for them after that result. It wasn’t until this afternoon that we knew we were going to start with 3 at the back, which came as a result of the illnesses to (Paul) Downing and (Jack) Rodwell, which didn’t help matters, following the injuries to (Charlie) Mulgrew and (Derrick Williams) and I found myself with only 1 fit central defender, which meant we had to concoct a strategy with the players we had available.
“The frustration is there for me, because I like to prepare my teams in advance, with game plans and studies of the opponent, yet in the defence of the players, we had no time for that in a detailed capacity, which is probably a reason as to why we lost goals early on. I think, although the lads grew into the system as the game went on, they showed the great character and spirit, that all our fans know we’ve got in our locker, to fight back from 2-0 down. I feel for them at this moment in time, because they’ve been let down by the linesman. Then, as we’ve tried to get back into it at 3-2, we’ve left ourselves bare at the back and they’ve used their Premier League quality from the bench to secure the game at 4-2. I do think David (Raya) should have maybe done better for their last goal, but that’s football. We need to put the FA Cup behind us and focus on trying to win some league games, starting with Ipswich Town here on Saturday.
“Although some might say these performances against Newcastle has shown how far we’ve progressed, a couple of years ago, before I arrived, Rovers did the double over Newcastle, so there could be an argument to suggest that we’ve regressed. I thought that, over both games, we matched them in playstyles as we weren’t scared of them, or kept everyone behind the ball, we attacked them and created problems for them and on another day, we could have won both games, yet it wasn’t to be.
“I’m pleased for Adam (Armstrong) because he’s had a good week. He’s came off the bench and grabbed a goal and an assist against Millwall on Saturday, and he got himself another goal today. He does a lot of hard work away from the matches, and he’s generally threatening on the left side of midfield where he usually operates. He consistently puts a shift in, yet at times, hasn’t emerged with the rewards that (Bradley) Dack or (Danny) Graham have, so I’m pleased for him that he’s started to get rewarded for his efforts. His pace is crucial in getting him beyond defenders and into areas where he can provide an assist or score a goal which is pleasing.
“I’m also pleased that we managed to score from a set-piece today, especially due to the fact that we had no (Charlie) Mulgrew on the pitch, yet we’re ultimately left disappointed with the result, because we’ve gone from a game which I felt we should have won at 2-2, yet we’ve let the tie slip through our fingers.
“We need to take each game as they come. Hopefully we can rest up and recover after tonight’s huge effort in order to come out with a positive result against Ipswich Town on Saturday.”
