During his customary interview with the clubs’ media team prior to Saturday’s game at Ewood Park against Northampton Town, Tony Mowbray reiterated the need for his side to remain ‘focused and motivated’ ahead of, what he believed to be, a tough game.
“I’m under the impression that the group know that the job isn’t over, despite us getting into the top two, last weekend. They’re very focused and we’ve talked about not looking behind us and that we should look ahead of us, towards what we want to catch. That mind-set doesn’t change really, we just have to keep pushing on and we have an opportunity on Saturday to play an extra game whilst Wigan are playing in the FA Cup, and Shrewsbury don’t play on Tuesday so, if we can get the points it might apply a little bit of pressure, a bit of tension and beyond Wigan looking down the table, hopefully we won’t have to look down beyond Shrewsbury. We just have to keep moving forward.
“I think having Wigan as a target keeps the focus and the attention of the players, which helps them maintain their standards. We’ve been playing catch-up all season really, after losing the first two games, alongside the postponement of games due to the international breaks, so we were always going to be chasing the league. We’ve just about caught up, we’re one game adrift along with Shrewsbury and Wigan, but soon we’ll have all played the same number of games which will allow us to have a clear look at the table and hopefully we’ll be looking forward and not behind.
“I’m not particularly concerned with what Wigan and Shrewsbury are doing as we just have to focus on ourselves, with what we’re doing and how we’re performing. People were saying that the results in mid-week had gone our way, but it genuinely doesn’t matter to me because I know that if we win, we get more points than them, meaning they’d have to catch us. Our focus is on Northampton this weekend and hopefully our pride and passion for the game will be enough for us to pick up the victory, yet Jimmy-Floyd (Hasselbaink) is an experienced manager, he’ll have them well set-up and they’ve signed a few players since we played them in December. When we played them previously, I felt as if we were under the weather in that game and didn’t perform to our maximum, especially with the missed penalty and the squandered opportunity in the final minutes of the game. We’ve seemingly strengthened our home form so, we just need to keep pushing in that direction.
“Although I’d like to see every game be like the Shrewsbury game, every game is different. Northampton have a real physicality about them towards the top end of the pitch which we have to be mindful of, as we were at Fleetwood last week, because we had to be mindful of reducing their opportunities at goal. Fleetwood didn’t have a corner throughout the whole of the 90 minutes, which is something we talked about and worked on. If you’re generally playing with the ball, in and around the opposition box, then it’s generally hard for them to get chances at your goal. We have to take a similar mentality from now on, by playing with the ball in the opposition half and asking questions of their defence with our intensity, forward passing and threat.”
Mowbray continued his interview by talking about the importance of having back-to-back home games, due to the atmosphere that the fans at home can create which can have a positive impact on the team’s performances.
“We just have to concentrate on Northampton, to try and get the three points, then switch our attentions to Walsall on Tuesday night. We haven’t played Walsall this year and I haven’t started studying them, but regardless we need to make sure that our preparation for each game in between now and the end of the season is properly done. I hope the mass following of the supporters, both home and away, helps increase the intensity of the players. Their support also creates an expectation which I can still feel. Although the fans may feel that they have a right to win every game, they need to remember that we’re playing against strong professionals who know what it takes to win. Every match is tough because the players are good. Saying that we’ve had some good experiences so far and hopefully we can carry that on in the remaining games.”
