After being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after his side squandered some late opportunities at home to promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray was left content with his side’s performance against his former club.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get all three points. Yet, we have to recognise that we’ve played against a good team today, that asked a lot of questions of us, particularly in the first-half due to their precision. They’ve got good, experienced, high-quality footballers and you could feel that and yet, at the end of the game, once we’d scored, I think we got on top. We had two or three amazing chances, but ultimately, we’re disappointed that we didn’t take all three points. You’d have to say – and I don’t know whether Slaven (Bilić) would agree – that their goal is a yard offside, but that’s football. They’re a good team and I hope that they can get over the line and get promoted.
“Decisions are big in any game, but I personally think that since we’ve come back after lockdown, all the officials we’ve had have been pretty poor and below standard because I think they had no preparation and weren’t up to speed. That’s not sour grapes or anything, but I think it’s a fact that they’ve been off the pace. Officials aside, we played against a really, really good team today who have got every ambition to get out of this division and we went toe-to-toe with them but ultimately, although we could have or should have taken all three points, we’re acknowledging that they’re a good side and that our ‘keeper made some decent saves today.
“We’re delighted with the impact the substitutions made. Having been a manager for the last 16-17 years, when the substitutions you make work, ‘you’re a genius’, but when they don’t work, ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, that’s football. Today, they made a big impact pretty quickly. Maybe sometimes when you change shape and the opposition don’t react to it quickly, you get into little pockets of space and that’s what we did today. We got a goal out of it, and other opportunities to score. I don’t think Jacob (Davenport) will sleep for a week after his one-on-one, but that’s football. I’m not travelling home tonight; I’m staying here because we’re in training tomorrow to prepare for Millwall on Tuesday but sleeping after a big game is difficult for players and managers because the emotions are still raw and you’re running the game through in your head.
“We’ve reached last season’s total of 60 points with three games left. Let’s see if we can win our last three games to get to 69 points. We still have points to play for, as every team has, and we have to stay positive and believe that we can win the remaining games. Yet, from the games we have remaining, we play a team who still believe they can get into the playoffs in Millwall, and one right at the bottom of the league scrapping for their lives in Luton Town. Hopefully, if we can get a win on Tuesday, we will play Reading next Saturday in a game that will hopefully mean a lot to us, as well.”
