Although Rovers bowed out of the FA Cup at the Fifth-Round stage on Tuesday night, boss John Eustace and the Rovers fanbase were left full of pride as the players left everything out on the pitch, despite their penalty shootout defeat at home to Newcastle United, following an After Extra Time, 1-1 draw.
“I’m a very proud manager, tonight. I’m proud of the efforts of the players, proud of the supporters with the way they got behind the boys, as well. It’s a special night for the club and I thought we really showcased how good we can be, both with and without the ball. I thought defensively, we were excellent and with the ball, we played some really exciting football. I was really pleased.
“We set up in a way that we knew would hurt them. There were areas where we could play around and through them. Just from that defensive point of view, we knew that if we were defensively solid, that would give us a foundation in order to hit them on the transition. It was a really good night, with and without the ball. It was really pleasing with how we used the full squad tonight. On 60 minutes, we brought on more young players and changed our shape, which was pleasing and I’m proud of everyone involved with this football club.
“I think we’ve had commitment ever since I’ve walked through the door, not just tonight. The togetherness that the squad has shown since the first day has been excellent and the more games we play, the more we’re together, which we can see emerging as time goes on. There’s a long way to go, but we’re making small steps in the right direction. We haven’t had enough time on the training pitch, because of the number of games we’ve played. Tonight was our sixth game in 18 days, which is frustrating, but you can see that the lads are taking on the messages that we want and tonight was awesome.
“Tonight shows where this group can get to. We have to believe that we’re a top team. We are a really good team, but sometimes the confidence might not be where it should be, which is understandable with the results they’ve had. However, they need to realise that they are a group of really good, talented players. We as staff, are trying to get that out of them at the moment, which I think we are doing. They’re level of commitment showed as every one of those players want to do well for Blackburn Rovers. We’ve got a dozen or so big games coming up and we need that same level of commitment going forwards.
“There’s always going to be some disappointment when you lose a game and look back at the chances we created, but we can’t blame anyone. The performance of the whole squad was very good, tonight and then the game falls to the lottery of the penalty shootout. We’re obviously disappointed to lose, of course, but there’s a lot of positives to take from tonight.
“We showed a lot of character to come from behind at home for the second game running and that character is something I want to drive into the group. It’s very important that you don’t show your disappointments. The Championship is a relentless division, with games every three or so days. Results will fluctuate and sometimes you’ll find yourself a goal down or a goal up. There are difficult moments throughout all games, but this group of players need to continue to show the belief of ‘whatever happens, we stick together’ and we’ll get our rewards for that commitment.
“We need to try and replicate tonight’s performances between now and the end of the season, but the most important objective is to hit 50 points as quickly as possible. We have a big, difficult game coming up next Saturday away at Swansea City and if the lads show the same level of commitment and desire we should go there and be very competitive and very dangerous.
“I thought the supporters were amazing, not just tonight but ever since I arrived. The level of commitment is there from the fans and it’s important that we pay that back to them. Tonight, they were awesome, and they really got us through some difficult moments, but it also shows how much of a crucial role they can play going forwards. We’ve got some really big, tough league games coming up and we need every one of those fans behind us to help us through it.
“There are some real tired bodies in the dressing room, but it’s about using the squad. Everyone is going to play a massive part going forwards and I think that showed tonight. Sam (Gallagher) took a kick on his calf, so it was very precautionary that we look after him especially with the schedule. Siggy (Arnór Sigurðsson) has been itching to come on and his performance was very good, as were the displays of all the lads who came off the bench.
“Everyone is going to play their part. Every player, member of staff, supporter, we’re all going to play a huge part in our success, over the coming weeks and months as we play some huge games.”
