After Rovers snatched a late 1-0 victory at home, against Swansea City, Jon Dahl Tomasson revealed both his delight at the result and his frustrations towards his side’s performance, to RoversTV after the full-time whistle.
“We knew that Swansea City would be extremely good on the ball and that it would be a difficult game. I think today’s performance deserved a positive result and we’re delighted to have earned three points. We can argue about the first-half. I was not happy at all. I thought we were too passive out of possession and we didn’t move the ball fast enough, which was not planned. At half-time we discussed these issues, but the second-half was an excellent performance.
“It’s good that we got that goal in the end and it’s good to see the goals distributed around the team. It was great for big Daniel (Ayala) to get a goal and another clean-sheet was brilliant as it’s important to remain solid. It was a great victory in the end, in-front of our fans. They got behind the team in the second-half as we shot towards the Blackburn End, but it was a big win after two tough away games. We’ve played a lot over a short period, but we’re seven games unbeaten and that shows the spirit and togetherness that this young team has. Even after those two tough draws at Watford and West Bromwich Albion, the team kept on fighting until the end, and we eventually got the goal and points that we deserved.
“That was an important goal for us. In the first-half we had a couple of opportunities, but we weren’t in the box at the right moment, to get on the end of crosses, for example. We had the same issue in the second-half, a bit, but it was great to get a goal through Daniel. I was pleased with the second-half performance, we moved the ball quickly, we were intense and aggressive, we got the crowd behind us and created chances. We showed a lot of good things in that second-half.
“The atmosphere changed in the second-half. We were not satisfied with the first-half at the break, so we had to change things in the second-half. The guys showed great togetherness and belief and we improved for the fans in the second-half. It’s great to see us being so solid in defence and not giving the opponent many chances. If we could score late goals every week, I would be delighted!
“Before the game, I said we needed to use the whole squad during this period, because we didn’t want injuries. On the other hand, I hope the injuries to Ben (Brereton Díaz) and Bradley (Dack) are not too serious, but I have to wait until I get the reports from the medical staff. Hopefully, Joe (Rankin-Costello) will be back in business on Tuesday, against Blackpool. We need everybody and it’s about trying to keep players fit. Sometimes, players need a rest, but sometimes others can play consecutive games, before a rest. This is obviously a conversation we need to have with individuals and the medical team. It’s not great to see two important attackers go off. Injured players are never great, but we have to see what the medical department say.
“When you have played against two teams with a lot of Premier League experience, before playing a home game, you always want to win and get the crowd behind the team. We’ve added another great win to our home games, here at Ewood this season. We can celebrate these wins with our fans, which is great.
“We all know that Daniel (Ayala) is a great player and he showed his quality at both ends of the pitch today. He’s played a lot of games this season, in comparison to previous seasons, which we want. He has managed to avoid a lot of injuries this season, which has been a problem in the past, but when he has played he’s done a good job to help the team.”
