Following a lacklustre game that saw both Middlesbrough and Rovers come away from the Riverside Stadium with a point apiece, Boro legend and Rovers manager Tony Mowbray praised his players for their late defensive rally in stopping the home side from taking all three points at the death.
“I think we have to accept the point from today’s game because we played against a good team who really grew into the game as it wore on. Boro started really well during the opening 10 or so minutes and then we got on top and had some great chances which resulted in them making numerous blocks to deny us. Overall, it was a tight game. They’ve got a young team, full of energy with some experience in the right positions who can pick good passes and tear you open on any given day. In fairness to our lads, we scored a really good goal and up until their substitutions at 1-0, Middlesbrough weren’t really threatening us much. I thought their substitutions really helped their team with (Britt) Assombalonga, (Hayden) Coulson and (Rudy) Gestede coming on. Assombalonga is one of the best strikers in the division on his day, Coulson was like a rocket down this near touchline in-front of me and of course, Blackburn Rovers fans will know a lot about Rudy Gestede, who if you keep giving opportunities to in the air, is almost unstoppable.
“It was a tough last 15-20 minutes for us, but we got a point out of it which was satisfying particularly after picking up six points from our previous two games. I think we need to build on these seven points, put today’s draw in the bag and move on because there’s so much more that we have to work on. We need to take more care of the ball on the transition, we need to keep fizzing balls into people’s feet when we win it back and in order to not give it away to teams whose aim is to pump it into our box, because ultimately it’ll cost us. There’s so much to keep working on both, individually and as a group, yet there were a lot of positives from today. The way they put their bodies on the lines to deny Boro was magnificent, the save from Christian (Walton) at the end there from Gestede was amazing and I think that deserves to be commended. I’ve been critical of Christian at times saying, ‘he should be doing better here’ or ‘he should be coming out and catching there’, but when credit’s due for an amazing save, I’ll give it to him. How do I judge the result overall? A draw was probably fair. It was an okay game. Middlesbrough, I think, are a good side in a false position. They’re now unbeaten in their last 10 home games, but the fact we came so close to beating them shows how well they’ve been here.
“There’s always that natural frustration when you take the lead away from home and then don’t see it out. When you break down and analyse the game, you can see why the players are so frustrated that they didn’t hold on and gain the three points. Yet, ultimately, what broke us down today, was some clever play around the box which opened us up. Although my first thought was that it was possibly offside, that’s football and we have to deal with it and improve in the next game. Of course, we want to win every game as every team does, but we shouldn’t be disappointed by coming away from home and getting a point in this league. If we can keep winning our home games, getting three points at home and one on the road isn’t a bad formula to work on.
“I would say Gestede is a bit special in the air. He has a huge frame on him and has an amazing spring for a lad who’s not hugely athletic. The way he uses his body is amazing, but we managed to get through it. The reason he (Gestede) doesn’t start games for Boro in my opinion is that he potentially triggers the team to go direct into him too soon and with him not being the most mobile of forwards, it allows teams to play around him without worrying about him pressing them too hard. Late on in a match, however, is a different story because he’s as good as anybody in getting into the box and making himself a nuisance for defenders.
“Joe Rankin-Costello is athletic, strong, has an extreme desire to be a top-level footballer and is desperate to play in our team. He can take the ball and run with it. He didn’t show what he can do today in comparison to when he’s with the under-23s because there’s a huge jump, as the likes of John Buckley found out, between the under-23s and Championship football, which he has to acclimatise to. Joe in my opinion, is going to be a good player for this club as we move forward over the next few years and I’m delighted that he got his first start and contributed positively to the team before going off when we were 1-0 up. Part of our thinking and philosophy is to promote the young players from our academy and yet, our ambition is to try and give ourselves a chance of getting into the Premier League, so it’s a case of having a fine balance. The Owners put a lot of money into our academy, so having players coming through to the first-team is a big priority and I wouldn’t play those who are coming through like Joe and John, if I didn’t think they were good enough for this level. Joe is a very talented, powerful and versatile footballer, he can play at right-back, down the middle and off either wing. He nearly managed to get himself on the scoresheet before he got smashed in the head which left him with a black eye and blood streaming down the back of his neck at half-time, but that just shows he’s fighting for the overall cause, but we’re delighted for him and hope this will be the first of many appearances.
“Lewis Holtby’s injury is a massive disappointment for us because we’re losing a huge goal threat. He makes people think about where they need to be on the pitch because he’s tight on the ball. As I was saying earlier about transitional play, the first pass we make is to somebody who can pick the next pass in order to slide (Adam) Armstrong in behind, and that’s what the likes of Holtby and (Bradley) Dack bring. Lewis was a huge loss to the team’s fluency today, which allowed Middlesbrough to step on us and put balls forward. What’s wrong with him? His lateral knee ligament is feeling sore at the moment, but we’ll have to wait and see what his scans and the medical department say, but it’s looking like he’ll be out for a few weeks from my perspective.
“I feel the pressure now of not having the attacking talents such as Dack, Holtby and (Joe) Rothwell available, because I’m not stood here today with two new signings who can just slot in and replace them all. We tried very hard yesterday, on deadline day, but nothing materialised. I am really amazed that, when it came to the players who I thought could improve us, they proved to be out of our range due to their astronomical salaries. When you hear some of the salaries in the Premier League and the Championship, it’s quite astonishing where football is at the moment. In the end, it didn’t happen for us. We tried to go for some young players, but things drifted away and ended up out of our hands, but it wasn’t for lack of effort from everybody behind the scenes. I’ll always back the group that we’ve got, because I like them all individually, as I’ve always said. If I didn’t like them, they wouldn’t be at this club, but I felt that they needed some additional depth behind them in order to cover for these types of situations where you’re plagued with injuries. Saying that, these injuries will allow someone else to break through and earn the opportunity they’ve been waiting for, so we’ll just push on and keep fighting.”
