Prior to Rovers’ 268-mile trip down to Fratton Park, where they face Portsmouth on Tuesday evening, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray took some time out to speak to the club’ media team regarding the clubs’ injury situation, the importance of clean sheets and what he expected from Portsmouth.
“Nothing much changes in the injury department, we didn’t pick up any injuries at the weekend, so we have to keep rolling. The players who are back in training are edging closer to a return, they just need a couple of days work, but the injury situation is improving. Darragh Lenihan played the full 90 minutes for the u23s against Reading last Friday and came out of that okay. He trained with us today and he’s going to travel with us to the game on Tuesday. I’m mindful of the fact that he hasn’t played any football since the opening day of the season, which seems like some time ago now. We’ve got 15 games left, but I’m sure that, as we move forward, Darragh is going to play a big part in those games. He’s chomping at the bit to get back with the lads; he, and all the other players returning from injury, need to now work really hard in order to try and force themselves back into the team.
“One thing that has been annoying me a lot is the lack of clean sheets that we’ve been having. We went through a spell earlier on in the season, where we were very good at keeping clean sheets and were eventually winning the tight games by 2 or 3 because the opposition tried to push on and get a victory and we ended up scoring on the counter. The home fixture against Portsmouth was a good example of us going 2-0 up and then grabbing a third on the break through Craig Conway. We have to get back to that style of play and we’ve been conscious of the fact that we weren’t achieving clean sheets for a couple of weeks in a row, due to conceding at set-pieces, but in the recent weeks, we’ve addressed that and managed to reduce the number of goals conceded from set-plays. The team have to be given credit as well, as we’ve only conceded 3 corners in the last 5 games, which has contributed to the lack of goals conceded from set-pieces. On the other hand, we’ve conceded some very soft goals through individual lapses which need to be cut out. What’s good for me is that the competition for places is becoming more intense and the players are realising that if they make errors leading to goals, which costs us points, then other players will be given their opportunity in the side.
“Ever since the away game at Oldham, we’ve been set up to balance risk and reward in our play. We know that we’re going to lose games along the way, however if we don’t score, we don’t win. At the weekend, from the position we were in at half-time, we’ll take a point, but we really set the team up to go and win the match, yet if you don’t win, people will criticise the defensive side of the game. We could go back to keeping a lot of men behind the ball in order to try and keep a clean sheet, yet we might end up losing the game through a set-piece, so we have to keep our minds focused on getting 2 or 3 goals and if we concede, but get the three points by full-time, then so be it. We’ve found a formula that’s worked for us, so we have to keep moving on and applying it in our games. It’s very difficult for me to feel negative about having 2 defeats in 20 games, but we should enjoy being one of the best teams in this league whilst playing attacking football to try and win every game.
“The trip down to Portsmouth is a tough one as it impacts on the weeks preparation that we have. One positive is that our weekend game at home to Bury, has been moved to next Monday, which gives us time to rest and prepare for it. Alongside the trip, the task of playing Portsmouth is a tough one, they have a very football centric society down there with a big support that’s right on top of the pitch. I’ll pick the team that I think can go to Portsmouth and give them problems which will hopefully see us come back with three points. I think all the players have now bought into the fact that they just have to continue to work hard and if they’re selected they have to do the best job, if they’re on the bench, then they have to impact the game when they’re asked to go on. We all have a common goal in wanting to get this club out of this division and if we’re successful, we’ll all succeed together.”
