After Rovers exited their rut of 9 defeats in 11 games with a convincing performance and eventual 2-0 victory over Frank Lampard’s playoff hunting Derby County side, Tony Mowbray spoke to the club’s media team to express his delight at his side’s performance against one of the division’s form teams.
“We’re happy with tonight’s performance. The poor run has gone on too long for everybody, and yet, as I’ve always said, we’ve got some amazing footballers at this club who really care about the team and what’s happened with the bad run. Yes, there’s been some anxiety and we’ve lost some really tight games at home, but their bravery to play, to pass and get the balance right between the directness into Danny (Graham) and the calmness in building-up chances from the back and through midfield. (Harrison) Reed and (Lewis) Travis were very good tonight, as were (Craig) Conway and (Joe) Rothwell. I’m not going to name the whole team individually, because they were all brilliant.
“Joe has been waiting and bursting out of his skin to show everybody what he can do and as I’ve said previously, he just needed that bit of discipline in the defensive side of his game, such as his positioning and I thought he improved upon that well and it showed tonight. His talent with the ball is unquestionable however, because he’s an exciting player. I’m pleased to see Bradley (Dack) scoring again because he was a bundle of energy tonight, who reminded me of his performances earlier on in the campaign where he was like a kid in a playground, charging around, fighting, tackling and working really hard along with Danny up front. Derby are a good football team if you let them take control of the ball and whilst we allowed their centre-halves to have it at the back, as soon as they fed it into their midfield, Dack and Graham were like terriers in their pressing approach, which allowed us to keep winning the ball back and cause them problems.
“The game plan worked really well, and I’m delighted to get the points because that sees us hit 50 points, which takes any tension off us, so hopefully we can build on tonight by going to Nottingham Forest on Saturday and grabbing another victory, whilst also enjoying the remaining games of the season without particularly resting on our laurels.
“You have to fight the negativity in your brain which appears due to the run we’ve been on. It’s 0-0 and we’ve had chance after chance to take the lead and you think to yourself, ‘they’re going to nick it with one counter-attack’, and yet a brilliant performance coupled with an outstanding team goal which Rothwell finished off, followed by Dack’s finish allowed everyone to ease their nerves and celebrate the points. We’ve got the points in the bag after an amazing performance. I’m delighted for the lads because they’ve worked ever so hard, not only tonight, but over the course of the campaign, even through the dark times over the past couple of months, they’ve remained focussed, hard-working and fantastic in their attitude.
“Our fans know the way I generally play now. I have one wide player whose natural game is to work hard for the team and track back, such as a Craig Conway or an Elliott Bennett, whilst the other side sees a freer role occupied, usually by Adam Armstrong, due to the number of goals he has for us, whilst Dack and Graham lead the line, that’s what brought us our success up until February. Everybody deserve great credit for the goals and assists they’ve provided over the course of the campaign, and yet Joe Rothwell has been waiting in the wings for his opportunity which hasn’t seen him get the goals that the quality he possesses, deserves. We see him in training everyday and we know what he can deliver, however he’s been in a similar situation to what Harry Chapman was in last year, everybody is clamouring for them to play and yet the team has to function and win games and when such a process is occurring, as it was earlier on in the campaign, it’s very difficult to change a winning side. We eventually got to a point where, as a manager, I had to change something in order to try and turn our run of results around, and Joe was one of those who came in and he has done brilliantly well during the game time he’s had, I’m delighted he’s scored tonight. On the subject of Harry, he’s fit and ready and was here and available tonight, but I decided against throwing him in tonight. Hopefully, somewhere down the line, we can unleash our fast, attacking wide players on somebody and hopefully they can help the team win games.
“The goal was the icing on the cake for Joe and I do believe that he can play better than he showed tonight. He does go across the pitch at times and cuts inside a lot, but what he has shown is his threat when running directly at centre-halves with his pace and his tight ball control. I’m sure he’ll come away from tonight with the confidence and the belief that in time, he will cement himself as a main player in the team, but at this moment in time, he’s slowly easing himself into the team after coming in from Oxford United in League 1 last year, so this year has been a year of him understanding his role and his job within the team structure. We’ve always known the talent he possesses, which is why we bought him, what’s nice to see is that he’s maturing and understanding the role he has to play when selected. He’s not the only young player however, who I hope will make the team stronger in the near future. We’re not quite there yet as I believe we need to add a bit more experience around these young players, and hopefully the club will go from strength to strength, yet we need to perform on the pitch in order to see that growth and achieve our ambitions.
“It was a sad feeling at the weekend against Stoke City, because I genuinely believe that had Brad played, we would have won the game because of the chances that were flashing across the six-yard box are what Brad finishes off, which is why he has the goals that he does. As I mentioned previously, he left training last Thursday with a tight hamstring and I didn’t want to play him, see him sprint and then be out until pre-season. It’s important to have your best players available if you want to win games, unless we get to a stage where we have enough quality in depth to see someone else step up and take Dack’s place when he is unavailable. That’s where we need to get to and hopefully with the support of the Owners, we’ll get the finances required to bring in good players, who will do that and help take this club forward.
“I’m delighted with all the players and they’re delighted with themselves because they know that was an outstanding performance. They controlled the play without over-relying on the platform that Danny Graham gives to us, which was pleasing. I’ve been trying to make us a better football team over the past couple of months, because I understand that the best footballing sides finish towards the top end of the table, because you can’t fight your way to the top of the league. We’ve been doing a lot of work on ball retention and building up attacks from the back, and it started to come to fruition from what I saw tonight and although we can never lose the fact that we have to play off Danny because he’s a vital cog in our machine, we showed that we’re capable of playing through the middle, with the central midfield duo of Reed and Travis handling themselves well and coping with Derby’s pressure. Travis as a young player, showed great maturity whilst Reed showed he was disciplined enough to play in the centre of the park and stop the opposition counter-attacking. I’m happy with the balance of the team tonight and although I think they could have potentially won by more goals, I’m happy with the result.”
