In the wake of Rovers’ deserved 1-0 victory over Hull City, Tony Mowbray spoke of his delight, to the club’s media team, after his side had come to the KCOM Stadium, dominated against Nigel Adkins’ men, and left with the 3 points in the bag.
“I think the 3 points were thoroughly deserved. In the first-half, we threatened their goal a lot with some really good chances and in the second-half, both Danny (Graham) and Benno (Elliott Bennett) had chances to add to the scoreline. Bradley (Dack) could have gone into half-time with 2 had their keeper not made a good save. We made it hard for ourselves at the end by dropping deep and giving them the opportunity to shoot at our goal, but in the end, we managed to see the game out and get the victory, which I’m delighted about.
“Our lads are warriors. We know they’ll dig in, fight for every ball, work really hard and will keep asking questions of the opposition. I think they’re learning as they go along to not just try and soak up pressure, but be able to hit teams on the counter, which is why the likes of (Adam) Armstrong are important to our side. (Elliott) Bennett can do both jobs, which is why he’s such a fantastic player, as he can help defensively, but can also run like the wind when we’re transitioning into attack.
“I thought (Joe) Rothwell did very well today. He’s an exciting player, which everyone can see, but he has to grow into how we play, and keep working hard in order to try and get into the first 11. (Lewis) Travis is still a young boy who has a lot to learn, but I feel as if I can trust him on the pitch to help us see the game out, but overall, I’m delighted with the work-ethic, drive and desire of all the lads. The experience of (Darragh) Lenihan, (Charlie) Mulgrew and Danny Graham is invaluable for us, but that also shows that we can compete in this division.
“In my opinion, this win doesn’t relieve any pressure, because I never felt any in the first place! I take my views on how we’re doing, off the performances of the team and the first 2 league games, prior to today, have been more than worthy of being confident and comfortable, instead of worrying about when the first league win would come. As a manager, you have to believe in your team and trust them, which I do, because they work extremely hard during the week and on matchdays. The lads in our squad have some great quality, we’re looking solid defensively and I’m delighted that the first league win of the season has come today and hopefully we can follow it up with a victory against Reading on Wednesday.
“Our goal was the result of some good play. We nicked the ball back in their half, kept hold of possession and bided our time until the gaps appeared, then (Richie) Smallwood played in Armstrong, who threaded it into Bennett, who assisted Bradley. Bradley has to keep running into the 6-yard box, if he wants to continue to score. I’ve been telling Kasey Palmer the same thing, as if you’re going to score goals, you have to get into the box, because you’re not going to curl in a goal of the season contender from 30-yards out, every game. In order to find the back of the net, you have to, at times, run into the box and wait for the ball to drop for you, as Bradley has been doing for us since he arrived. That is why, I’m sure, he’ll be scoring a lot goals for us this year.”
As the boss sung the praises of his number 23, Mowbray was then asked about Dack’s welfare, following his withdrawal from play on the hour mark, due to an injury which saw the goalscorer hobble off.
“He’s okay. He’s still hobbling as he was when he came off, but he’s pretty confident that he’ll be fine for the next game. I think he suffered a kick, more than a twist, which is what we were fearful of. Kicks can be sore and swell up a bit, but they eventually cool down after a day or so, which hopefully suggests that he’ll be back in no time.
“I think after the disappointment at Ipswich, it was important that we held onto the lead, and the clean sheet which ultimately gave us the victory. Had they scored, we would be stood here talking about frustration, disappointment and why we had conceded late on in 2 of our 3 games played. Thankfully, however, the resilience of the lads paid off, yet, they do understand that we shouldn’t be inviting that sort of pressure so late on in the game. I think Hull ‘over-gambled’ by the closing stages as they pushed everyone forward in the hope of snatching a point. When such a scenario occurs, that’s when you need to breakaway and finish the game off by scoring a second, which we nearly did. Despite not getting the second, we’re happy enough to have earnt the 3 points. We’ll put them and the solid performances in the bag and move onto Wednesday’s game against Reading.
“I haven’t seen David Raya’s late save back as of this moment, but he’s a reactionary goalkeeper with fantastic reflexes. In the grand scheme of things, it was a great save, because it would have been a travesty had we let the lead slip at such a late time in the game. That’s how daft football is at times, because we could have been stood here talking about another draw, but thankfully David, who’s looking really sharp, managed to keep them out. I think Raya is a real, top quality goalkeeper and I’m happy with him. I told the lads in the dressing room, not to get carried away after this victory, because we hope to win a lot of games this season.”
Prior to the end of the interview, Mowbray was told that, the game against Hull, was his 600th game in all competitions as a manager, in a managerial career that has spanned 14 years and seen him collect numerous individual awards, as well as a Championship title with West Bromwich Albion in 2007-08, and of course, promotion back to the Championship with Rovers, in 2017-18.
“For me, such stats are irrelevant, but what I do know, is that, in order to round it up to 1000, it’s going to take another 10 years of torture! The main thing from today is that we need to keep concentration and keep pushing forwards. I was delighted with both the players and the fans today. A few people told me today how good the fans were, and that’s credit to them for travelling in their numbers, backing the team and making their voices heard. It’s great to see the supporters enjoy the victory, yet we, as a team, need to keep the consistency going, in order to give the fans the knowledge, that, when they pay their hard-earned money to watch us away from home, that regardless of the result, they’ll see a team fight with all of their might for the badge.”
