After Rovers fell to yet another defeat on the road, this time a narrow 2-1 loss away at Villa Park against a resurgent, playoff chasing Aston Villa, Tony Mowbray offered his assessment on the game which saw the return of the first-team centre-back partnership of Darragh Lenihan and Charlie Mulgrew, who hadn’t started a game together since the 1-1 draw in the FA Cup away at St. James’ Park against Newcastle United.
“We had a lot of good spells in possession today, which was encouraging. In the first-half, we had our backs against the wall and we showed our resilience against them because they were very good during the opening 45 minutes. The manager (Dean Smith) has put his stamp on the team and they’re playing in a very similar manner to how Brentford played under him, using a 4-3-3 system, with the experience of Glenn Whelan pulling the strings in the holding role, whilst John McGinn and Jack Grealish ahead of him showed their quality by pulling off a masterclass during the first-half. It was a tough afternoon for us and it was vital for us to stay within touching distance of them going into half-time.
“During the break, we talked about what needed to happen in the second-half, if we were going to get something from today. We needed to be braver, because you can’t keep giving them the ball back because good teams such as Villa will eventually hurt you. I thought we were much braver in the second-half, we kept possession and moved it around better in the second-half in order to push them back. I thought the introductions of Joe Rothwell and Ben Brereton really added a spark to the team after the hour mark. Joe’s passing was crisp, whilst Ben used his body well against some big defenders, but also knew when to run at them with his pace. I think we were unfortunate to come out of the game on the losing side.
“If Arma (Adam Armstrong) had scored before the substitutions, it could have been a different game entirely. (Charlie) Mulgrew, again, showed his threat from set-pieces, which of course led to the goal by Amari’i (Bell). I’m disappointed that we’ve come away from here with nothing, but we’ve shown a lot of positives today, particularly later on in the game, which we’ll hopefully transfer into next week’s game at home to Stoke City.
“I think Villa were hanging on for the last half-an-hour, if I’m honest. We played really well with the ball in the second-half, just like we played really well without the ball in the first-half. We required a lot of concentration today, particularly in the first-half and you can see the difference that (Darragh) Lenihan makes to the team, I don’t want to big it up, but he’s been a huge miss for us, simply due to the fact he heads the ball back out of our box. Although we need to keep him fit, we also need to find someone like him over the summer who wants to head the ball out of the box, who is a capable deputy if Darragh were to get some injuries. Overall, there were a lot of positives from today’s game, but we’re undoubtedly disappointed with the result.
“Today’s resilience in the first period was pleasing, given the defensive disasters we’ve had on the road in recent weeks, yet I think Lenihan adds to that resilience with his commanding nature and his ability to get rid of the ball. He’s an amazing character and a natural leader and winner. I’m pleased with that aspect of our game, because we had to work extraordinarily hard to stop them cutting through us. Craig (Conway) and Adam (Armstrong) had to work tirelessly in the wide areas, Bradley (Dack) was moving backwards to help defend from the front, rather than forwards, and yet the second-half encapsulated how we want to play the game moving forwards, in order to improve this club. We need to slowly improve the standard of players at this club and create more competition in order to play like we did in the last 30 minutes on a more regular basis, both home and away, which will allow us to dominate the ball.
“We gave them a lot of problems because the lads moved the ball around quickly and positively in their half. We were brave, even in and around our own box, passing through and around their press. This is how we want to take the team moving forwards, and yet in our defence as coaches, we’ve just come out of League 1 and have virtually kept the same team, so when you come to places like Villa Park, you can almost commit suicide if you overplay around your own box. I think we got the balance of our play right in the second-half and we were unfortunate not to come away from here with something.
“Moving forwards, this young team needs to have the players who have the confidence to play in arenas such as this, and that’s what we need to try and add in the summer, players who find it natural to play in such big, full stadiums. Getting the understanding of the game is a difficult balance for the coaching staff and myself because for a team that has built itself, over the past 2 years, on a high energy pressing game, to change how we play with the ball to adapt to our surroundings and our opposition, isn’t something we can do overnight as it takes a lot of work and practice on the training ground and through pre-season. Through this upcoming pre-season, we will have the time to set the demands and print out to the players, how we want them to play going forwards, whilst also being able to bring in the players who match that specific philosophy, which is something we’re going to try and do over the summer.”
