After Rovers extended their unbeaten run over Derby County to five games after their 1-0 triumph against the Rams at Ewood Park on Saturday, Blues boss Tony Mowbray reflected on a dominant afternoon which saw the Blues’ winning run extend to four consecutive games.
“We’re delighted with the 1-0 scoreline, but I think we had some pretty decent chances in order to finish with more than the one goal. Adam (Armstrong) should have scored with his chance at the end of the first-half when he was one-on-one with their ‘keeper and a few more efforts flashed across the face of their goal. It wasn’t an afternoon for loads of clear-cut chances, but it was a pretty controlled performance for a majority of the game, we played a lot of the game in their half and managed to ask a lot of questions of a team who are very dangerous on the transition and counter-attack. The likes of (Tom) Lawrence and (Duane) Holmes are ball carriers, whilst (Martyn) Waghorn is a powerful threat up front and I thought it was a dangerous game for us, but we saw off their threats, scored an amazing goal and although we could have scored more, we’re happy with this result and the points and we move onto the next game.
“It was a goal worthy of winning any game. I think Adam deserves it because he works his socks off every training session and every game. Although he’s a centre-forward playing out in wide areas, he’s got the aerobic capacity to do that job sufficiently, which is why I play him there. He wants to play down the middle, and he’s a threat down the middle when we can slide balls in behind teams, but at the moment he’s doing an amazing job for the team by adding invaluable goals from a wide position. I’m just happy that he’s enjoying his football and working as hard as he can.
“The prospect of them scoring a late goal is always lurking away at the back of your mind, but you have to trust your team. The team managed to get the job done and although it would have been nice to have got a second goal and be sat down on the bench satisfied, rather than up on my feet screaming at a few players, we managed to see the victory over the line. Every team that does well throughout a league campaign have a few 1-0 victories amongst their results over the course of a season. Such ‘backs to the walls-type’ performances during the latter stages of a game allow for a bond between the players and the supporters to be created once the final whistle goes because the supporters see how hard the team are fighting and how hard they’re digging in and getting the ball clear. Christian (Walton) made an important save towards the end on an afternoon where he didn’t have much to do, but I’m delighted for all the players and although big Tosin (Adarabioyo) got Man of the Match, I thought that it could have gone to a number of the lads, not just Tosin.
“We’re happy with the points, but we need to turn our focus now to the two tough back-to-back away games at Swansea City and Bristol City that we’ve got coming up. We’ve got a long trip to Wales and then we’re staying over in order to go down to play Bristol City, who’re on good form themselves. They’re both really tough games but are also good tests for us. We’ve won four on the bounce so we should go and attack these games and go and test where we are in this league and see if we can get something from two decent teams.
“Winning the first game of the week sets you up because you could end up drawing all three, thinking you’re doing well because you’re unbeaten, but in reality, you’ve got the same amount of points as one win would give. I was saying to one of my staff today at the training ground that, three points in this league, having watched the game – (Millwall 2-2 Nottingham Forest) – on television last night, is almost more than three points because there are so many draws in the division. It seems like three points in this league this season means more than in most leagues because the margins are so fine. The likes of Leeds United, West Brom and Fulham run away with the league because they can turn the fine margins in their favour and have the quality to turn a draw into a victory and yet, over the last 10 days or so, we’ve managed to do that ourselves with four fantastic victories.
“I think it’s too early for us to be talking about a playoff spot. Ultimately the consistency will be decided over the course of the season. We’re currently in a period where we’re doing really well, but if you breakdown last season, we had a period similar to what we went through last month and then we came out of it and won four on the bounce and drew one from six games. Who’s to say that we’re not on that spell at the moment? I’m just trying to drive this team really hard. I think that this year’s Championship has really tight margins between every team, and the teams that do well in this division and want it the most will be the ones that fight, graft, give everything they’ve got, and a bit more. That’s what we have to find. We have to go home and away and give more than what we think is maximum and see where that takes us.
“You can feel the confidence and the intensity of the players before every game. I worked pretty hard with the players today to make sure that they don’t ‘step off the gas’, because sometimes that can happen if you’ve been doing well. I tried to stamp out any complacency and get the team in the right mental state to play this game, which allowed the team to go out and put on a brilliant performance that showed no signs of complacency. They started on the front-foot, they worked hard, they denied Derby the space for their technical players to pick us off. I thought (Corry) Evans again, was magnificent, (Lewis) Travis put in such a brilliant shift, (Joe) Rothwell and (Adam) Armstrong were playing like midfield players but were such a threat going forwards and (Bradley) Dack worked his socks off along with Danny (Graham), who’s a target for us to play off. Danny gives us the ability to change up our style. If we need to go longer, we can hit balls into him, and he helps us mix the game up a little bit.
“I would suggest that the negativity which loomed over us a week or so ago, came during the Barnsley game, which was the first of the four games we’ve won in this block. There was an expectation that we had to beat the team, at the bottom of the league and yet, they made things really difficult for us, as they’ve done for other teams. Barnsley are a very young, talented team and they’re struggling to find an answer as they seem to be losing tight games. In football, you’re only ever three or four games away from trouble as a manager. The Premier League over the past week or so is the perfect example of managers not being given time in their jobs when results go against them. The game’s becoming difficult for managers in this day an age because of the social media aspect to it, where everyone now has an opinion. As a manager, all I can do is work hard and give everything I’ve got to get results, and yet the only thing I can’t guarantee anybody, is results. What I can guarantee is hard work from myself and my staff and the team who will give everything for the shirt they’re playing in. Whether we win or lose is sometimes out of our hands as managers as something like a deflection or a penalty decision could swing a result away from you and cost you your job.”
