Following a pulsating 2-2 draw away against Huddersfield Town, where Rovers fought back from 2-0 down to make it a ‘Late, Late Show’ in Yorkshire, Jon Dahl Tomasson discussed his side’s performance to RoversTV, praising his players’ fighting spirit.
“I’m extremely surprised that we only got a draw from today’s game. We played some brilliant football today and it was probably our best game of the season. Yet, still, if you look at the two unnecessary goals we’ve conceded, we’re not satisfied, but we did all the right things on the ball. We created a lot of chances in the first-half and even more so in the second. This young team showed great spirit coming back from 2-0 behind, which can be difficult. We stuck to the plan and we dug in and showed physicality. We were also in control of the game and were creating a lot of chances before eventually scoring the equaliser. In a way, we’re disappointed with the draw, but extremely pleased to see the team – a very young team – show that fighting spirit and be able to keep their composure when they’re behind.
“We’re disappointed with the result, but we should be pleased with the way we played the game and the development of the game. We gave a stupid corner away for their first goal, and their second was very soft, but the reaction was great and we dominated until the end. When players are young, it is natural for them to be nervous when 2-0 down, but we had a chat at half-time about continuing to do all the right things and remaining composed, which we did. The defenders stepped in on the free man, we created chances by running in behind, played one-touch football and had a lot of bodies in the box. We showed great spirit and physical fitness at this stage of the season.
“A point from 2-0 down is always valuable, but we played a very good game and we should ultimately be disappointed that it wasn’t three points, with the amount of chances we created. In England, we’re killing the game with timewasting. People are playing a lot of money to watch games and the football time is decreasing. Ten years ago, we didn’t have all this timewasting, people were playing football for the fans, but now people are kicking the ball away and rolling around on the floor, all these unnecessary actions that I don’t like. Referees should stop this, but also coaches and players should also try and stop this.
“Joe’s (Rankin-Costello) goal was important at the right time. We had enough chances to score goals, but Joe always gets into good attacking positions on the pitch. He had a lot of chances today individually, but for him to score is great for him and for us. He’s had a big positive difference this season, he’s gotten used to a different way of playing, but when he was not playing, he kept his head up and continued to perform in training, in under-21s games and in internal games and took his chance when it came. He’s also been helped by the way I want him to play, whilst at full-back. He’s been positive and played brilliant for us since he’s come in.
“It’s great for the club to see Joe, Adam (Wharton) and Harry (Leonard) all play in the first-team from the academy. We need to give big credit to the academy, because they have developed a lot of players who are now showing their quality and who we’ll need in the future. Sam Gallagher was not totally fit, so we played Harry instead, because we didn’t feel like we could potentially lose Sam to injury. Harry has confidence and it was a good time to play him and he almost scored! He’s a young, talented boy, but we shouldn’t put too much pressure on him. The striker position is the toughest on the pitch, but whilst scoring for the under-21s is nice, the senior team is a totally different level.”
