During the first-team’s training session, on Wednesday 1st February, Tony Mowbray spoke to the clubs’ media team about Rovers’ next game; an away trip to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. The gaffer not only talked about Saturday’s opposition and what was to be expected of them, but also of Rovers’ dealings in the January transfer window, including an update on his squad.
“With the window closing, it allows us managers to know what we’ve got and who we’re dealing with from now until the end of the season. We have to push on from now as I told the players this morning and I think we’ll only get stronger as a group once those who are injured, return. We’ve probably had around 6 experienced players, who have been playing in the first-team on a regular basis, unavailable for us in recent weeks due to injury and when they slowly start to return to the side, we should get stronger, as will the competition for places.
“Deadline day was fairly quiet until the evening, at around 5 o’clock where it all got a bit hectic as it looked like we were going to do 2 or 3 things at once, which could have sparked a domino effect, but it all hit a brick wall at the top and nothing materialised. I told the chief executive, Mr. (Steve) Waggott, that we’ve got a good squad who are in good spirits, so we should be keeping them together and keep driving forward if we can. In terms of the one departure, Scotty Wharton went out on loan, because I believe that he needs to play senior football to help his development at a faster pace than it was previously at. He’s also probably gone past the level where he can play in the under-23s and for his own motivation, he needs to go play in-front of a crowd where three points are the goal.
“Whilst Charlie (Mulgrew) was injured, it was an area that we were a bit light on, having let Elliott Ward go out on loan earlier in the week, but I thought it was the right move for Scott in order to let him go quickly, to see if he can impact on our first-team next year, whatever level we find ourselves at, but with (Darragh) Lenihan hopefully only being a week away from full fitness and with Charlie also being out for no more than two weeks, I felt it was a risk worth taking and hopefully we get through this week without any injuries.
“I think Plymouth have had a pretty decent run of form, I’m not sure of their statistics but they’ve improved significantly from when we played them in the reverse fixture at home, where they came and were pretty negative, with a lot of men behind the ball trying to make it difficult for us. They then scored and made it even more difficult for us, but we managed to take a point out of a game where at times, it was attack vs defence. I’m sure that the game on Saturday will be a totally different one to the game in October. They’ve got some good players, including a few that I’ve worked with in the past, (Graham) Carey, who I had at Celtic and (Rúben) Lameiras, who I had at Coventry, so I know that they’ve got some technically good players. We have to be mindful of their threat, but despite it being a long way to travel, we need to remain focus and know that it’s just the next game for us.
“I think Carey is a goal threat, he can unlock doors for them. He’s not an out-and-out playmaker where everything goes through him, he stays out wide and drifts in onto his wand of a left-foot, which makes him a danger from anywhere. We just have to be mindful of where he is on the pitch during the transition of play. We should also be aware of Rúben, as he’s equally as talented, can pick a pass and also has a good left-foot. They carry a threat at the top end of the pitch, but we have to go and ask questions of their defence in order to remain on the front-foot. We’ve got a lot of options up-front now and it’s just about figuring out who we’re going to play in order to try and break them down.
“There’s still a long way to go between now and the end of the season, we still haven’t achieved anything and it’s still very tight at the top. We’ve managed to claw our way back into the race for promotion since the reverse fixture, where we were 12 points off Wigan and Shrewsbury, but we just need to keep fighting hard, as every game is a massive opportunity for three points and all we have to do is concentrate on Plymouth. We’re going to go there and try to get the points we need. It’ll be a nice environment, as when I’ve been watching them, they’ve always looked like they’ve got big crowds and their pitch looks fine, so we just need to make sure that we turn up and give the fans a positive performance and result.”
The gaffer was asked about Danny Graham and the impact that he had on the team and on the clubs’ season, with the up-turn in form that he’s been in, which, if he plays against Plymouth, will see the forward achieve his 500th career appearance.
“His stats clearly show that he’s played, on average, 50 games for the past 10 years. Danny is a goalscorer and has been for a very long time. He started off at the same club I did, that being Middlesbrough and has scored goals wherever he’s been and has continued that trend here. I think he’s a big, strong personality in our dressing room. I just wanted him to understand the way that we want to play, with the work ethic and the drive he has, and with his personality being as strong as it is, I wanted him to try and lead the team with his work ethic, not just with his goals, and to his credit he’s done that. He’s clicked on to me when I shout to him about where he needs to run and how he needs to adapt his game during the heat of a match and, with great credit to him, it’s become almost second nature. I’m delighted with his contribution, both his goals and his work ethic which allows him to lead by example.”
