After crashing to a 2-1 defeat away at Birmingham City in the FA Cup 3rd Round, Blues boss Tony Mowbray offered his thoughts on a heart-breaking afternoon for Rovers, who saw their winless run extended to five.
“Ultimately, this game was about winning and going through into the next round of the FA Cup, but we haven’t done that despite playing really well. Had we scraped through with a scrappy 1-0 win with our name in the draw for the next round, I’d have been stood here delighted, but I’m not sure how Birmingham have won that today, but we have to accept that they did. There were a lot of positives from the game, but equally there were huge negatives as well. You can’t dominate matches, as we did today and only score one goal from a penalty kick. The strikers misfired a bit today, which we have to accept. I find it hard to contemplate how Birmingham City have scored two goals today. There was a significant lack of pressure and action around our goalmouth and yet they’ve somehow come away from this game with the win, but we have to accept that, take it on the chin and move on.
“The lack of prowess in-front of goal was concerning today because we ultimately went on to lose the game, but overall, the squad is the squad. (Danny) Graham was unavailable today due to illness and obviously (Bradley) Dack’s unavailable through injury, who’s been our main goalscorer. I think (Adam) Armstrong was good today, but (Sam) Gallagher didn’t fire, (Ben) Brereton didn’t fire and (Harry) Chapman didn’t come on and make the impact we would have wanted. It’s difficult to stand here and criticise the team because they worked extremely hard throughout the game, but it wasn’t to be. It’s not that they go out there purposely missing chances or miscontrol a pass, they just have to keep working hard to improve and as I’ve just said to them in the dressing room; ‘The only way footballers improve is through hard work every day’. They have to remain focussed because this is their job. This is what they’ll be doing for the next decade or so, so they should strive to get better in every training session and every game and not be distracted by things like, what they’ll be doing on they day off or what car they drive, for example. They should be practicing every day because the evidence shows itself on the grass, as it did today. That doesn’t just go for the strikers, it goes for everybody. Whether you’re a midfielder who misplaces a pass, or a defender who mistimes a tackle, everybody has to work hard in order to improve, both as an individual and as a team. Today was a hard lesson to take because there were so many positives with the way the team controlled the game from start to finish, but at the end of the day we’re out of the cup.
“It’s not a case of the strikers lacking confidence because nobody will top you up with confidence before a match. You have to find and build that confidence in training by practicing and then you can take that confidence into the games. You have to practice and hit the back of the net in training every day and if you’re not doing the business in training, you have to stay behind and continue practicing and practicing and honing your craft until it becomes second nature. That’s the environment we’ve tried to create with the renovation of the training ground over the summer, so that afternoon and extra sessions can happen after the main sessions, whilst also giving the players areas to relax in, in-between those sessions. We just have to keep pushing that idea home, really. The coaching staff don’t play the through balls in or take the shots on or close down the opposition’s wingers, the coaching staff provide the assistance to do the drills where the practice for the players can be done and I have to say that all the staff work tirelessly in support of the players and the players need to keep going at it in order to build their own confidence.
“I haven’t watched their winner back because I can’t bear watching it at the moment. We’ll have our post-match breakdown of the game when we’re back at the training ground, so we’ll see where the fault is for that goal. If Jayson (Leutwiler) is at fault, then he’s at fault. I’m not sure how they got in-behind us and I’m not sure who gave it away cheaply or who didn’t concentrate. Generally, when a goal goes in, it’s because a few people have made errors, not just one individual. I wouldn’t stand here and just blame Jayson, but we’ll see after our briefing once we’re back home.
“The team need a break after five games in 13 days in order to come back down, mentally, before we pick things up ahead of the game against Preston North End, next Saturday, which is obviously a big one for us. I’ve said before that we believe that we can win any game at home and this will be no different. If we can get the three points by 5pm next Saturday, everything will be looking rosy, we’ll probably be a win or so away from the playoffs with 19 games remaining, so we have to stay positive. We’ll take the positives of controlling and dominating the ball, from today’s game and deal with today’s negatives during the week, in preparation for Preston.”
