After watching Rovers get beat convincingly by a youthful Derby County side, a frustrated Tony Mowbray reflected on a day that saw Rovers crumble under the pressure of being able to move into the playoff spots.
“We’ve lost the game today, but that’s football. You have to live with that disappointment. I thought Derby played well today, and you have to give them credit for that. I think we misfired at the top end of the pitch, today and I don’t think we got the balance of the team right. Ultimately, we’ll break the game down tomorrow and study it, but we have to give Derby the credit they deserve.
“Any chance that comes along is an important chance that you have to try and take, it doesn’t matter if that comes in the first few minutes or the last few minutes. Goals, as we know, change games and unfortunately for us they grabbed three. We were undone by a couple of long-range efforts. Their first was a really good strike, right into the top stanchion. We seemed a bit bare on the edge of our box a few times and we paid for it, with the first-half goals.
“We were a bit off the pace today in the attacking third. The runs, the passes and the finishes weren’t there for us and we generally misfired. The final incisiveness you need to unlock a defence and make a difference in a game wasn’t there for us today and that contributed to making this afternoon a frustrating one. As I said, they played well, but we didn’t take the chances we had early on to score, which contributed to the game fizzling out for us in an attacking sense.
“It was a frustrating afternoon. We’re going to have days like this in the future, but we have to accept it. We’ve had a pretty decent run of late, but coming here was never going to be easy, especially because they’ve only lost twice here in the league, this season. They’re a big club with big 27,000-odd crowds, who have some good young talent and some experienced senior players, and they’ve shown that today by coming out with a victory.
“I said to the team before kick-off that today was an opportunity to break into the top six, but that wasn’t to be. There’s still a long way to go, with nine games left and still 27 points to play for. We’ve got a lot of teams in and around us still to play, and those are going to be big decisive days for us. Those games will come before we know it, so we need to put this defeat aside and get ready to go again next week.
“I didn’t see the red card, so I don’t have a view on it or know what it was for. It’s sad for John (Buckley) because I thought he impacted the game well when he came on. He was very bright, positive and served the ball forwards, but I didn’t see the tackle so I can’t comment on it, although John said he was disappointed with it.
“All the games from now until the end of the season are big. We’re at home against Bristol City, who are also looking to try and make it into the playoffs. We need to try and stamp our authority on the game and get the points in order to get back on track.”
