After Jon Dahl Tomasson marked Rovers’ 148th birthday by becoming the first Rovers manager to win three consecutive games at Carrow Road, he discussed his delight after his side – albeit down to ten-men for much of the second-half – managed to beat Norwich City, 3-1.
“It was a fully deserved three points, the boys played an excellent performance. I’m extremely pleased to win the game, our third successive away victory in the league. The way we did it was great. The first-half was nearly a perfect half given the way we play football in possession, we moved Norwich City around and found the free spaces. We made it difficult for them and got after them immediately as we know they’re in a difficult place at the moment, even though they have very good players. Our lads deserve immense credit, even though it probably should have been 4-0 by half-time.
“In the second-half, we scored early. It was a very well-worked goal and at that point in the game, we were in total control. Yet, we then got the red card for Scott (Wharton) and that changed the game. It was a soft red card, in my opinion, especially if you see it from the angle from behind where Scotty touched the ball first before catching the man. After that, we were defiantly defending the box and defended as a unit with great spirit. We actually denied Norwich a lot of opportunities, so the lads deserve a great compliment. It was great to give three points to our fans, they’ve left Blackburn at 3am-4am, so it’s always good to give them something back for the journey.
“We were on the front-foot from the start, we made it difficult for Norwich & forced them into mistakes. We played one & two-touch football, we played to our principles with a lot of fluid movement as well. Sometimes we were really good and outplayed the opponent. The quick touches, the movement and the positional sense was great. You need to be in the right position to play that kind of football. The structure of the team was great.
“To score three goals away from home, is brilliant. It shows how much our players are progressing, but also that they’re doing their best for Rovers. We have an extremely stretched squad which was seen today by the fact Harry Pickering was playing at centre-back! The lads dug in there and they were doing everything for Rovers and the fans. The defending was outstanding, they defended like lions. I think we’ve been defending really well recently, and we haven’t been conceding a lot of goals. Over the last six league games, we’ve only conceded four goals which tells you that we’re a good unit who defend very well together. We can be high at times, defending in the opponent’s half, or deep defending inside our own half, depending on the opponent and the time in the game.
“I saw the red card foul from behind and I definitely think Scott touched the ball. I thought we were in the only country in the world where we weren’t soft in challenges…? I don’t know how he can give it, but we’ll have a chat and see if we’re going to appeal it or not. We will be looking at decision again on our way back, to see if we will appeal it or not.
“We will definitely have defensive selection headaches. We shouldn’t forget that two players left the building in the summer; Daniel Ayala and Ashley Phillips both left us and we only managed to get one in, in James Hill who’s playing tremendously well. But it’s one of the positions where we’re lacking numbers. The players, however, are digging in and trying everything to get results over the line which is through good football and hard work.
“Joe’s (Rankin-Costello) injury doesn’t look good. It’s too early to say how long he might be unavailable for, but the way he came off and given his injury history, with operations and other hamstring issues, it can be difficult. We will have to wait and see, but early signs are that it doesn’t look great.
“Tyrhys (Dolan) did really well today. He finished off a great goal, but we also played some great football. The link-up play was great and he also did his work defensively. He always works hard for the team at a high intensity. Players do have ups and downs, like everyone else in life. We shouldn’t forget that, as football is a game that is the centre of attention, but players do need confidence to perform. Of course, it can be tough for a young player. We mustn’t forget that Tyrhys is only 21. He’s playing with confidence, and he did really well today. I’m very pleased with his performance, today.”
