After Rovers were pegged back by Plymouth Argyle, at Ewood Park, despite the hosts being down to ten-men having led since the seventh minute of the contest, boss John Eustace – who reflected on the game to RoversTV – was left satisfied with his team’s resolve and resilience in not letting the game run away from them after losing a man.
“Today was a massive effort from the group & they showed great resilience. The boys really put their heart and soul into that performance. We started really well and we had a great to build on Sammie’s (Szmodics) opener and make it 2-0 with Arnór (Sigurðsson), who on another day, puts that first-half chance away. Plymouth Argyle had a couple of good chances in the first-half, it was quite an open game and exciting half, but I thought we came out quite strong in the second-half before the red card which changed the course of the game. The effort that the group put in to limit the opposition to very few chances was amazing. The goal we conceded was disappointing, but they certainly showed the required fighting spirit that we’ll need between now and the end of the season.
“The red card was a key moment in the game. I thought we were outstanding with 11 men, in the first-half. We were on the front-foot and played some really good football. Plymouth had a couple of chances, of course, but we probably had the best chance of the game to put it to bed at 2-0, but we came in at half-time, changed a few things and remained on the front-foot until the sending off. The red card changed the way the game was going, but the effort and character that this group have shown since I’ve been at the club has been outstanding. We’ve played nine games and only had two defeats; of course, we want more wins, but we’re showing the level of commitment needed to stay in this division.
“The character’s there for everyone to see. We’ve had to use the squad. We’ve had to rest players, change players, we’ve had to play players that needed a rest. Callum (Brittain) came off with a groin strain on Tuesday night and then played 90 minutes today. The number of games that John (Buckley) has played in this short period of time has been huge, he was tiring during the latter part of the game, despite being amazing for the first hour. We need to make sure that we don’t lose these players and the squad’s used.
“The squad again today, was fantastic. I thought Ryan (Hedges) came on and did fantastically and he only trained for 15 minutes, yesterday. So, to get the last 30 minutes of performance out of him was great. Yasin (Ayari) has barely played and I thought his performance was outstanding. There are loads of positives from today, but we now have to look at who’s fit and available after a good training week. We can now have a free week to train ahead of next Saturday away at Middlesbrough, which will be the first time we have that chance since we’ve come in.
“We had a penalty shout which looked a penalty to me, but I thought that when we went down to ten men, Plymouth weren’t going to score. I thought we defended really well. I thought we sat in and really frustrated them, but the only real chance they had was the goal. That’s disappointing, because we could have cleared our lines earlier, but the character that the group showed in really difficult moments, were good.
“We have to remain positive. The fans were remaining today and they, as the 12th man, helped the team through tough moments. They’ve been brilliant since I’ve come in and there are going to be some difficult moments coming up, of course there are, but there will be some good ones as well. It’s important that we stick together, like we did today. We all wanted three points today, but not to lose the game, with ten men, was pleasing.
“Yasin did well, today. I thought he sat in midfield and broke the play up well. He was aggressive and energetic and I’m pleased for him. He’s come off the bench recently and has done really well to deserve the start today. I was really pleased that he set up the goal and had a good game.
“This free week will allow us the chance to find the balance between rest and being on the training pitch; that’s key. I think we’ve got to assess who’ll be available and who needs a rest. We can certainly get some good messages in, this week and hopefully we can start building on our start and win a few more games.
“I don’t believe we’ll have anyone returning from injury until after the international break. Again, just to have Hedgey back is a huge bonus, we weren’t expecting him back so soon. We just need everyone back as soon as possible. We’ve missed around seven or eight players who would probably start, for the last couple of weeks. The effort of the whole group has been amazing and although we wanted three points today, I think we showed that we were up for the fight, we’re together and we want to stay in this league.”
