Following Rovers’ nervy, but ultimately deserved 3-2 win over Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium, Tony Mowbray highly praised his team for their efforts in securing the win against a side, who only last year, were in the Premier League.
“We need to be happy with today’s performance and not focus on the last 10 minutes that we conceded in. We played against a really good team today, who have an anxious crowd behind them, similarly to how we were last year in League 1, but from our perspective, the 70-80 minutes that we played today were probably the best football we’ve played since I’ve been at the club. We were tenacious, we were positive and played the ball forwards, whilst also creating a good number of chances.
“We defended brilliantly at times. We had people throwing themselves in-front of shots, clearing shots off the line and heading away to safety. The lads put their bodies on the line today, which is something I like to see. Ultimately, goals change games, and with their 2 goals, they managed to get the crowd to support them, despite the fact that they spent the majority of the game against their team. Such a turn in support nearly allowed them to get forward and grab a point that I felt wouldn’t have really been deserved, but thankfully now, we’ve come away with all 3 points.
“All 3 of our goals were brilliant. (Danny) Graham and (Bradley) Dack have a good understanding. They’re good mates off the pitch and they use that relationship on it, which showed today. Additionally, their combination is something which will be important for our team this year. Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton will supplement for them or around them over the course of the season, but there’s no denying that Graham is an important asset for us. I tried to go without Graham in midweek at Derby, but realised that it wasn’t plausible for that game, but today, Danny showed his worth to the side.
“Danny was magnificent today, not just because of his goal, but his all-round play was brilliant and something that I presume Adam (Armstrong) and Ben (Brereton) will be taking note of. As a former central defender, I would have hated to have played against Danny Graham today, because he was superb with everything that he did. Ryan Shawcross, who had to deal with Danny, has been around for a long time and has played a lot of seasons in the Premier League, and Danny had him beaten all day. I don’t think Armstrong or Brereton can do the physical work Danny does in terms of holding off defenders and muscling them out of the way. Danny’s effort and work-rate was also amazing, because they played an extra man in midfield, which Danny helped to deal with superbly.
“Me being on the bench, during the final 10 minutes, means nothing when it’s the players on the pitch that have to do all the work. I felt that we should have been a bit higher up the pitch in order to apply some pressure. The lads were feeling the effects of their efforts by added time. Danny was feeling tight, Harrison (Reed) was getting cramp, and the youthfulness of Adam and Ben wasn’t really helping because they were struggling to get beyond their defence and grab the goal that would have secured the points. We had a great chance to finish the game off, when (Joe) Rothwell could have played Brereton through to kill the game off, but we failed to pick out the pass, however that’s football and that’s what happens when you have young players. One positive thing however, is that these young players will soon get better, both technically and mentally and will soon understand how to deal with certain situations like today.
“I wasn’t pleased with the referee (Tony Harrington) in the second-half to be honest. I felt as if it was one of those games where, a team gets well beat and it felt as if every decision went against us, after the break. I felt as if, subconsciously, the referee was trying to make it a better game, by giving Stoke more opportunities to remain in possession and get the ball forwards. In addition to that, I didn’t think the penalty, was a penalty at all, to me, it looked like a simple collision of players. All in all, however, the fouls and the penalty don’t really matter, because the scoreline is in the history books as ‘Stoke City 2-3 Blackburn Rovers’.
“I get sick of saying it every game, but this team have an incredible work-ethic and team spirit which helps us get through games. We’re trying to coach them into playing a certain way, which emits a certain brand of football. We talked throughout the whole of this week, about improving in possession of the ball, which I thought we did today, and we didn’t concede possession today as much as we did against Derby on Tuesday. I’m happier today with both, the result and the performance against Stoke, than I was against Derby.”
To conclude the interview, Mowbray was asked about the supporters and how they kept backing the side throughout the full 90 minutes, despite the spirited Stoke comeback.
“The fans were amazing. It’s always easy for the supporters to be loud and happy when the team are playing well, as we did today, and I hope they enjoyed it. I would like to personally thank the fans for their amazing support today. The players do talk about the amazing support of the fans, in the dressing room, because the encouragement and support they get is what drives them on. I do, however, think we are still underdogs, having just been promoted from League 1, but coming to teams like this, who last year were in the Premier League and performing like this, gives the fans a great spectacle.”
