After Rovers rebounded from a lacklustre first-half performance, which saw them behind at the break to relegation-threatened Derby County, Tony Mowbray spoke to RoversTV after his side managed to turn the game on its head and emerge as 3-1 winners from the Tuesday night fixture at Ewood Park.
“The team worked hard and played with emotion in the second-half and added goals to their game which we’ve been missing recently. It was good to score and important to get those three points, but we now have to focus on the next game at the weekend away at Reading. The performance doesn’t matter, if I’m honest, because we need to find ways to win regardless, and the team did that tonight. The emotion of dealing with the first-half performance was good, because the team tried to resolve the situation themselves at half-time and we tried to give them a bit of help, but we got the job done. As I keep saying to the lads, tactics are one thing, but you have to play football with emotion. I thought we were too afraid in the first-half and we were playing five versus three at the back. I could have changed things after 20 minutes, but I don’t want to bin what we’ve been doing so well and what the team have been good with, for the past couple of months. Ultimately, we got the job done, despite it not being the best game to watch.
“The dressing-room at half-time was quite emotional. I left them alone for the first five minutes whilst they tried to sort things out themselves and there was a lot of aggression in there. I said to one or two, that I wished they showed as much aggression out on the pitch, as they did in the dressing-room. As I’ve always said however, I love this group of players and I believe that they deserve success and sometimes they need a bit of help, but I’m pleased that they got the job done because they deserve it. It’s good to see a team emotional at half-time, because they try to put things right when it isn’t going well. As a coach, my job is to just point them in the right direction and help them and thankfully we got the job done after changing a couple of things at the break. I don’t think Derby adapted to our changes. We found it really difficult against their possession-based style in the first-half and I thought we weren’t brave enough, as I’ve said and I don’t think we were as committed towards the press. We allowed them to almost toy with us at the back and through their midfield and that made the first-half an uncomfortable watch.
“I don’t question the desire of the team. I think they’ve always wanted success, regardless of the emotions they showed at half-time, because we have an emotional group. They’re emotional before the games and yet, I think they were tired mentally. The Bristol City defeat at the weekend took a lot out of everybody, given the manner in which we lost so late on, after putting so much in and we were left pretty drained after that game. The game preparation for tonight wasn’t as intense as it probably should have been, but you can’t ‘flog a dead horse’, if that makes sense? We needed to show them what was needed, rather than do it on the grass. Throughout the season, we’ve done it on the grass, but it was a game that we were probably ill-prepared for and then at the break, we basically threw the tactics in the bin and got the team after the match emotionally. We wanted them to play on the front-foot and to show some aggression and show the team that we are. I thought that second-half epitomised what we’re about as a team which ignited the crowd, which helped us get over the line.
“I’m pleased for Scott (Wharton). I’ve been saying it for weeks that we need goals from other outlets. The centre-backs have to score, the wing-backs have to score. Of course, the strikers have to score, but everybody has to chip in. Lewis (Travis) has to score with long-ranged efforts from the edge of the box, you can’t keep putting the burden on the strikers. Tonight, we ended up with a few different scorers which was pleasing. I’m pleased that Tyrhys (Dolan) scored as he works so hard for the team. I’m pleased for Sam (Gallagher) to score the typical type of goal that he should be scoring week-in, week-out which came through a little bit of quality from Ryan Giles’ assist. It was hard to leave Reda (Khadra) out of the team, given the damage he’s been doing to opposition teams over the past few weeks, but he was running on empties towards the end, as were a few of the players I felt, but we got over the line and got the points. We need to put tonight’s result in the bag, rest and prepare for Reading at the weekend and see whether we can go there and give them some problems.
“Sam is a nice guy, but if anything, he’s too nice on the pitch. He’s been here for a number of years now, but he has to play in the box and between the sticks. I know I usually start the attackers out wide with a false nine between them, but Mo Salah plays wide for Liverpool, yet he scores hundreds of goals. The idea is that the forward starts out wide and works really hard for the team, then gets in the box and today that’s what Sam did. Yes, he was playing down the middle when he scored the goal, but nobody ever tells the wide attackers not to get in the box. They have to get in the box and hit the target, that’s what strikers do, and I’m pleased for Sam and Tyrhys following their goals, tonight.
“Time will tell whether that second-half was a big one or not. We’ve got difficult games coming up, starting with the next two which are both away from home against Reading and Coventry City, who are both trying to resurge. Reading really found themselves in huge trouble to the point where they couldn’t score and were getting beat by three or four every week, but they’ve now got Lucas João back from injury, who we know about. He’s a big strong lad, who’s very talented with the ball at his feet and he can dribble past a few as well as score goals. They’ve brought in Tom Ince from Stoke City, who scored tonight, and he’s capable of coming in off the right onto his left-foot. Junior Hoilett, who our fans know, is on the other side and they all surround John Swift, who has eight goals and 12 assists this season. Reading are a dangerous team, offensively and have goals in them. Every game is difficult in this league.
“After Reading, we’ve got Coventry City, who put four at home past Sheffield United at the weekend and we know how thought Sheffield United are, so we’re facing a run of tough games. Let’s just play the matches and see how we get on, but if we fall short, it won’t be through a lack of desire or effort.”
