A fairytale return to St. Andrew’s wasn’t on the cards for John Eustace as his Blackburn Rovers side looked penniless and were ultimately defeated 1-0 in the battle of the former managers, as the touchline banned Tony Mowbray reigned supreme for all three points. The new boss reacted to his side’s lack of threat and defensive fragility to RoversTV, post-match.
“We’re disappointed to lose the game because we know we can be a lot better with the ball, as the team have shown throughout this season. The boys defended the goal for their lives and stuck together on a difficult night, which was pleasing, given this is such a tough venue to come to. Win, lose, or draw, we stick together. That’s the mentality we want to bring to this football club. We’ve had some really difficult moments away from home, throughout the season and it’s important that we keep improving and go into Saturday’s game full of confidence knowing that we can go there and get a positive result.
“The manner of the goal we conceded was the most disappointing part of tonight. When we defended well, we won the ball back and then we were loose on the transition, which is something I wanted to look at going into the game. I know that our front-three are dangerous going forwards and if we’d managed to get that extra pass in or had a bit more care with the final ball, it could have been a different evening, but there’s lots to work on. After a fantastic game on Saturday, to come here, it might have taken the wind out the sails a bit, but we’ll be ready to go again on Saturday at Preston North End.
“I thought we’d get one chance throughout the game. With the way the boys defended, I knew that Birmingham would take more risk. We need to be better with the ball, it’s that simple, tonight. There are a lot of disappointed players in there and we all came up with the same conclusion which we’ll work on. We will stick together. This division is relentless, we can’t get high after one win and too low after a defeat. It’s important that everyone stays calm and level-headed, we’ll be ready to go again on Saturday.
“I’m always learning about this group. Tonight, was a great learning curve for both the players and myself. We had an hour on the grass, yesterday and there were a lot of good things that came out of the game tonight, but also a lot to work on. They’re a top group to work with and I’m looking forward to working with them between now and the end of the season.
“There’s a lot of good stuff that we can expand upon and work with. The most important thing is that we get to 50 points as soon as possible and then we can see where that takes us. Nobody is going to get to down about the defeat. We’re all going to stay very positive. We’re fighters here, not victims and it’s important that we stick together and move forwards together.
“Joe (Rankin-Costello) had a kick to the leg which was a bad one. We’re disappointed to lose him so early in the game, but young Jake (Garrett) came on and did well and it’s great for his own development and learning experiences. It’s all about developing our players, as well, that’s what we’re here to do and tonight was a great experience for them.”
