After Rovers fell to their second successive 3-0 away defeat this week, a neutral Jon Dahl Tomasson discussed his side’s poor performance at Bramall Lane as well as injuries and transfer ambitions.
“We knew it’d be tough coming here, against a quality side who are one of the favourites to go up. Sheffield United are a club who have an expensive team, with a lot of opportunities ahead of them. Playing such fixtures are always going to be a challenge. We lost Ryan Hedges this morning, was a disappointment as he started this season very well. After losing him, on top of the injuries we already have, makes us look a bit stretched. I’m disappointed for all the fans that we were unable to give them a better performance that their following and commitment deserved.
“We need to be honest and say that Sheffield United were better than us, today. In the second-half, we were in the game for the first 20 minutes, but in the end, the result was clear and deserved for Sheffield United. I think we also need to be honest when comparing the two squads, because there’s a big difference. We’re still at the start of our new project and we will have bumps along the way. It’s not nice, but it could be good to get some players back from injury. Hopefully Scott (Wharton) and Hayden (Carter) will be involved soon, and I think we can boost the morale in the dressing room by bringing in some new players, as well.
“I think our squad was stretched before this week. The West Bromwich Albion victory was a good example of that, with the injuries and the changes we had to make that day. At the moment, we’ve been lacking quality and if you can’t rotate players and give them some rest, we’ll lack quality and have poor performances. The boys have been trying their best, despite the heavy load they’re under. They need to try their best because they have the best job in the world, but it’s always disappointing to lose games in the manner that we did today.”
The Head Coach was then asked about whether Rovers had moved closer to bringing any of the new faces that Tomasson had hinted at.
“You’ll have to ask Gregg (Broughton) and the club. I think new faces will boost the dressing room and the supporters, who deserve that excitement. I’ve been saying that ‘we’ve lost eight players’ since the summer, but I think it might be more and we’ve only replaced them with three, which I think says enough.
“We looked much better during the first 20 minutes of the second-half. We were in the game, in contrast to the first-half, where Sheffield United were better. We had problems with their rotations and of course, they’re a side who will be up there in the league and you could see the difference in the quality today. If you look at the general performance, the boys are working hard, but I think they also need a boost in morale, so hopefully we can get some new players in before the window closes.”
