Rovers fell to a second successive 1-0 away defeat where they failed to muster a shot on target, as they again failed to beat Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium. Jon Dahl Tomasson reflected on a sub-par evening for his side with RoversTV.
“We’re disappointed with the result. The boys are all frustrated in the dressing room with their performance, especially after bringing over 3,000 supporters on a Tuesday night, which was amazing. The first-half was poor, from both sides. We made a lot of mistakes on the ball, but the second-half was better. I thought we dealt quite well with how Wigan played. We defended the box and picked up second balls well, but we made too many mistakes on the ball.
“On a night like this, you have to, at least, take a draw. I’m a bit surprised that the goal was allowed, because it was, of course, a foul on Tyler Morton and we should have had a free-kick. It was a game of few chances, and when they score a goal like that, it makes a difficult tie even harder. We all know how difficult this league is, especially if the opponent scores the first goal, but we failed to take a draw at the minimum.
“Of course, we can’t spend the whole time complaining about referees, but everyone saw the foul. We need to do things better, however, especially in the first-half. I thought we defended our box extremely well against a team who are difficult to play against. We failed to make chances and good choices, which was not good.
“We know how good we can be, but there’s always a difference between a young side playing away from home and at your own stadium, where you have the majority of fans. We need to ingrain this mentality and learn how to cope with these situations. A lot of time, football is about the mental approach. It’s about doing the right things, on and off the ball and when you’re a bit stressed, it opens up room for inconsistency, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m not surprised about that. Inconsistency is expected with young players, I’ve said that after victories, as well as losses, so hopefully, over time we will improve and get better.
“The team need a bit of a lift after this inconsistency. Each player is disappointed after a defeat and a poor performance. They want to do well. Football looks easy, but it is never as easy as it looks, but it’s all about split-second decision-making and that’s why, when there are no chances in this game, you need to be careful not to lose, and take the draw. That is why I’m disappointed with the manner of the goal we conceded and the fact it was not a foul.”
