Following Rovers’ 3-0 home win against an out-of-form Hull City, which saw a double-change at the hour mark spark Rovers into life, boss Tony Mowbray reflected on what turned out to be a successful evening for his side, in the bitter East Lancashire cold.
“It was a frustrating game for long spells. We could have been ahead inside the opening 20 seconds after Adam (Armstrong) broke through one-on-one with their ‘keeper (George Long), but he made a decent save. Then, throughout the rest of the first-half, we were left frustrated because we couldn’t find the breakthrough. At half-time, I offered the lads a bit of encouragement saying that they have to keep pushing and increasing the tempo of the passing in order to continue getting into the good areas we’d gotten into in the first-half, because things were opening up for us, but we had lacked the final pass or clinical finish required to take the lead. We actually started the second-half quite poorly, during the opening 10-15 minutes which gave Hull some encouragement. That then prompted the changes on the hour-mark which effected the team in the manner we desired and thankfully we’re stood here celebrating a 3-0 victory. I’m delighted for the defenders and Christian (Walton) because the clean sheet was vitally important. If you count the goal that Darragh (Lenihan) should have had at the weekend against Fulham, that would be four from his past five, so he’s on fire at the moment in-front of goal, which we’re delighted about. Adam was a major threat to Hull tonight, and he got the goal his performance deserved. We’re all also delighted for Dominic (Samuel), because he was able to capitalise on his opportunity with a great goal, after such a long layoff due to injury.
“We had to take our chances, really, in order to go ahead. The first goal came from a corner which came off the back of the pressure that we put on them as a whole team. We averaged around 26 shots and 71% possession tonight, so it was a day where we were a bit frustrated that we hadn’t scored by the hour mark. I was on the touchline feeling the pressure of the game because I knew we needed a goal. We built the game up as if we should have beaten Hull at home, with total respect and although I know they have some key injuries, as do we, theirs were defensively, so we felt that we had to go and attack their young defenders and put them under pressure. It was frustrating as time ticked on, that it was 0-0 because you don’t want to go ‘gung-ho’ at 0-0 because you could soon find yourself 1-0 down. Thankfully things fell our way with Darragh, Adam and Dom all finding the back of the net, which we’re both delighted and relived about. We now have to turn our attentions to Charlton Athletic and go to The Valley, with total respect to them, confident that we can get all three points because we’ve done fantastically on the road recently. It won’t be a simple task, it never is, especially after they beat Nottingham Forest tonight at the City Ground. The Valley is always a tough place to go, I think they’ve sold around 25,000 tickets, so they’re going to be right up for it, so we need to be prepared to deal with that mental as well as physical test.
“I told the players before the game that this match was big in the context of our season. We weren’t playing a team, such as Leeds United, Fulham or West Bromwich Albion where our players would be alert and mentally prepared from the off, due to the large crowd and intense atmosphere that the teams at the top of the division generate wherever they go, so we had to mentally prepare them for the task at hand. It was a freezing cold night game in which we had to generate our own chances and momentum by continually being on the front-foot. We tried to make it a big game for the team, but ultimately, we got the result that keep our points total ticking over. I don’t think we should get carried away, we just need to take things game-by-game and see where we end up. I’ve talked about our aspirations many times and how, as a coaching staff, we’re trying to change the mentality of the team to believe that they’re capable of sitting around the top end of the table and not being content with being in mid-table or marginally away from the bottom. We have to have the same aspirations that other teams have. In total respect to Blackburn Rovers Football Club, there are much bigger clubs in this division, at this moment in time, at this stage in their history due to the finances and the crowds they generate. We’re currently competing with those clubs and are doing alright. It’s great to be able to win a game 3-0 with so many attacking options missing, we just have to stick together, keep our heads down and quietly see if we can go on a run of wins.
“Dom’s had a tough time to be honest, over the past year or so, with his injury. I made the call during the window that we were going to keep him, even though he wanted to go out on loan to play some football on a regular basis. Yet, his contract is up at the end of this season and I told him that he had to stay because we’re short on numbers and that I was prepared to give him opportunities, over the course of the rest of the season. At the time the conversation took place, he had around 17 games left to try and earn a place in the team and a new deal. We have to wait and see what happens between now and the end of the season. Dominic has to be hungry to score goals and that’s what I told him before he came on, he had to be selfish in possession of the ball and show everybody what he’s capable of, which he did with his goal tonight. He’s been training pretty well recently, so we need to see if we can help improve him and utilise his pace, power, directness and that bazooka in his right foot. I’m delighted that he got his goal tonight, but we need to see if he has the hunger and desire to match those attributes, I just mentioned in order to show us that he can be a top player for us. I hope he can use this goal as a springboard between now and the end of the season, but I can only try and inspire and give them a cause to fight for because ultimately, they’re the ones out on the pitch and they have to do it all themselves. The players have to have that desire in their belly to play every game and win every game. They’re not just happy to be a part of the squad and being around the place, they want to impact games and hopefully that fire would have ignited in Dom’s belly, I just need to give him the opportunities to show that.
“When I see Adam in action, especially tonight, I turn around to my staff and say ‘wow, what a player!’. The chances he creates, not just for himself, but for his teammates are quality, as is the way he runs the team up the pitch with his pace and how tight he is with the ball at his feet. He looks like a proper centre-forward who finds space and runs away from trouble and I would say that he looks like a really good player and the ‘icing on the cake’ for us are the goals he’s contributed with recently. We’ve needed someone to step up and contribute goals and assists after the injuries we’ve had, and he’s done just that. We’ve talked in the past about how much of a miss Bradley (Dack) would be to our side, Danny (Graham) is another who has contributed a lot of goals to this team over the course of my tenure here, but with the way we’re trying to transition the team forward into a different style of play that focusses on getting in-behind defenders, doesn’t suit his attributes and suits Adam more. Adam’s stepped up to the mark when required and has the attributes we feel the centre-forward role in this team requires. He never moaned when I played him on the left, but now’s his time to show what he can do in his true position. Whether we play him with a partner, or with a number 10 behind him once they’re all fit, because we’ve got none left at the club who are fit, at the moment, we’ll try and find a way that helps Adam score more goals.
“Adam’s goal tonight was amazing, not just because of the execution of it, but because it took a lot of pressure off us because it provided a safety net at 2-0. If you’re only at 1-0 against a team like Hull, who have big strikers on, they have the ability to be direct and potentially damage you. Had we played the final 10 minutes at 1-0, we could have been stood here talking about a draw, but thankfully both Adam and Dom put the game to bed for us. It was a pleasing night all-round. We scored some great goals, we’re delighted for all the scorers, but we need to stay focussed and go to Charlton with the hope of making it two wins on the bounce.”
