Rovers saw their once brilliant home form take a further hit following a solid performance by Stoke City, which saw the Midlands club notch their first win in 5 as they extended their unbeaten run to 9 under new boss Nathan Jones.
In terms of the Rovers line-up, there were 3 changes to the side that fell to a narrow defeat away at Villa Park last Saturday. Corry Evans, Richie Smallwood and Joe Rothwell all came in for Lewis Travis, Craig Conway and Bradley Dack respectively. Whilst the former pair were available from the bench, Bradley Dack was not in the matchday squad for the first time in 38 league matchdays – since the 4-1 defeat away at Bristol City – as he was seen driving away from Ewood Park prior to kick-off, with reports emanating from the club regarding a hamstring injury picked up in Thursday’s training session.
With the game being selected by Rovers as their annual ‘Kick It Out’ support match, in which encouragement against discrimination and racism was enhanced, the crowd also received a boost following the initiation of the ‘NextGen’ project in which approximately 2,000 school children, who were given tickets to help boost the club’s attendances and allow them to experience the feeling of falling in love with football, were housed in the Blackburn End upper tier, which was opened for the first time since the Oxford United home game, on the final day of last season.
As the pre-match rituals concluded, it was the visitors who kicked-off proceedings whilst being backed by 1,989 travelling supporters, who were hoping to see their side’s first goal since their 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, 5 games ago.
The game started brightly for Rovers who managed to pin back their opponents during the opening 10 minutes with a couple of close attempts that saw England international goalkeeper Jack Butland called into action.
The first attempt came inside 2 minutes as Joe Rothwell managed to intercept a wayward pass by Peter Etebo, before driving towards goal and releasing an effort from the edge of the area. Although the play was good by the former Oxford United midfielder, Butland was more than capable of falling down to his left to easily deny Rothwell his first goal in Rovers colours.
Rovers’ second attempt came on the 6th minute as Rovers captain Charlie Mulgrew tried to claim an assist by lofting in a free-kick into the area from wide, however Stoke ‘keeper Butland managed to commandingly come out and claim the ball.
A minute later, Butland’s position between his posts was a little less comfortable as Joe Rothwell and Adam Armstrong combined to rattle the ‘keeper and his goalframe. The former played a one-two with the latter, which allowed Armstrong to wriggle free in the box, and launch a shot that beat Butland, but didn’t beat the woodwork as the ball cannoned back off the crossbar and was soon cleared.
This narrow miss by Rovers saw the balance of play swing into Stoke’s favour, as they soon had an effort by Tom Ince – son of former Rovers boss Paul – saved by David Raya. The highly-rated winger managed to receive the ball on the right before cutting in on his stronger left-foot and releasing a shot which Raya comfortably dealt with.
Not too long after, Nigerian international Etebo saw his close-range effort cleared off the line by the well-placed Elliott Bennett. Ince again was involved as he put in an inviting drilled cross from the byline which Etebo managed to connect with. Although the Nigerian’s shot was powerful, Bennett did well to get his body in the way to deny Stoke the opener.
Although Bennett did well to deny Etebo and Stoke the lead, a few moments later, on the 14th minute, Etebo did manage to put his side ahead with a rocket of an effort that nobody in Blue and White halves could do anything about. Some slow build-up play by Stoke, saw Benik Afobe’s cross fall to Tom Ince on the opposite wing. Although both Bojan and James McClean were in the penalty area, Ince opted for the shot pass to Etebo, which gave the Nigerian the time to pick out the gaps in Rovers’ 7 defenders in the box and wind up a shot that flew past both the defenders and the sprawling David Raya as Stoke broke their duck of 390 minutes without a goal, by taking a 1-0 lead.
The opening goal then saw the game fizzle out to a quiet affair in which the next opportunity worth mentioning, came 10 minutes after the restart. Richie Smallwood did well, on the 24th minute, to dispossess Bojan and thread the ball into Rothwell’s path. The 24-year old midfielder did well to drive forward before seeing his shot drag wide of the Stoke goal and behind for a goal-kick.
The lacklustre first period continued until Tom Ince was unfortunately forced off with an injury on the 38th minute, which saw Sam Clucas come on as his replacement.
With the Rovers crowd becoming more anxious as referee Geoff Eltringham added on a minimum of 3 minutes of added time, their anxiety was to worsen by the first minute of added time, as Stoke were awarded a penalty after the referee and his assistant deemed that Charlie Mulgrew had scythed down Benik Afobe, who was leading a Stoke counter-attack, in the penalty area. Although Mulgrew had made some contact with the ball prior to hauling Afobe over, it was not enough to convince the referee to wave play on, as he awarded Stoke their seventh league penalty of the season, as Mulgrew managed to avoid a booking. Whilst the whole of Ewood Park held its breath, Bojan placed the ball on the spot before executing his run-up and drilling his shot towards the bottom left-hand corner, which Raya managed to get a glove on and parry away far enough for his teammates to deal with, as the home crowd united in its cheers for the ‘keeper.
Seconds after Raya’s save, the referee sounded his whistle and called for the break.
As both teams made their way back into their respective dressing rooms, there would have been mixed feelings within both camps regarding how the first-half performance unravelled itself.
Tony Mowbray and Rovers would have no doubt been frustrated with how they conceded the Etebo goal, whilst also not being able to score themselves. The gaffer would have been ruing the opportunities by Rothwell and Armstrong, but would have been encouraged by their forays forward, despite Stoke holding a firm grip on the game after their opener.
Nathan Jones’ reaction on the other hand, would have seen the former Luton Town manager annoyed that his side weren’t able to double their lead, thanks to the missed penalty by Bojan. Although they had come into the break with the play in their favour, Jones would have been wary and possible frightened of Rovers’ attacking threat at home, knowing his side only had the slender advantage.
When the teams returned to the pitch for the second-half, Rovers kicked off without their skipper Charlie Mulgrew, who had injured himself during the tackle on Afobe which led to the penalty. As a result, Derrick Williams was brought on to replace him, with Elliott Bennett taking the captain’s armband for the remainder of the game.
The theme of substitutions due to injuries, continue into the second-half, as on the 51st minute, Stoke captain, Ryan Shawcross was withdrawn and replaced by Everton loanee Ashley Williams.
On the 54th minute, Adam Armstrong and Danny Graham combined, but to no avail, as the former’s cross into the latter, saw Graham nod the ball across the face of goal, into the 6-yard box, where Bradley Dack would normally be, as Stoke soon cleared the ball away for a Rovers corner. Seconds after the corner, Armstrong saw his effort saved before being cleared.
5 minutes later, on the 59th minute, Elliott Bennett saw his edge of the box strike fly wide of the mark.
As the hour mark came, so did Stoke’s final change as Bojan was withdrawn, allowing former Burnley forward Sam Vokes, to come on, to a chorus of boos, in his place.
The jaded game continued with little chances, as Rovers soon made their second and third changes on the 72nd and 76th minutes, respectively. The second change saw Richie Smallwood taken off, with Lewis Travis replacing him, whilst the final change saw the introduction of Stoke-born Ben Brereton replacing Ryan Nyambe, as Elliott Bennett shuffled over to right-back.
Brereton almost made an immediate impact seconds after his introduction, as he narrowly missed connection on Bennett’s cross, which would have almost certainly levelled the score. The ball that missed the forward fell to Amari’i Bell who was charging in at the back-post, but unfortunately for him, his shot hit the side-netting.
With 8 minutes left on the clock, David Raya kept Rovers in the game with a fighting chance has he denied the former Burnley forward Sam Vokes, with a strong left-handed save from Vokes’ close-range header. Stoke began a nice passage of play which ended in Tom Edwards crossing into Vokes who peeled off the back of the bandaged Darragh Lenihan before seeing his strong header parried behind by Raya for a corner which led to nothing.
As the 90th minute appeared on the clock, referee Geoff Eltringham added an extra 5 minutes onto the end of the game, which saw Rovers ramp up their play in the hope of snatching a late equaliser.
That equaliser nearly came in the 92nd minute, from Ben Brereton, who saw his back-post effort deflect wide for a corner. Armstrong’s corner was nodded towards goal by Graham, before deflecting into Brereton’s path who tried to poke the ball home, but saw his shot deflected wide for a corner which was soon cleared.
The final act of the game, prior to the blowing of the final whistle, saw Elliott Bennett go into the book for a poor foul.
Whilst the inquiries regarding Rovers’ defending this season still remains within the support base, one area which supporters would have probably not expect to have seen blanks in would have been the attack. Despite Rovers creating a number of opportunities with which to – at first – take the lead and then equalise, the lack of support to Danny Graham was a main highlight of the Blues’ poor attacking play. Despite the much called for inclusion of the forward-thinking Joe Rothwell, who had a number of opportunities in the first-half, Rovers’ overall attacking threat was weak, mainly due to their insistence on floating balls into the box, rather than drilling them in, hard and low. With Graham up against centre-backs Ryan Shawcross, Danny Batth, Ashley Williams and goalkeeper Jack Butland, all 6ft-plus, the lone striker never had a chance of winning a header from a floated cross against Stoke.
Of course, the main talking point of the game is no doubt, the exclusion of Bradley Dack, with several rumours flying around, alongside the official word of injury from the club. Despite the playmakers’ absence, his play would arguably not made a difference against such a stern defence who have kept clean sheets in all 5 of their previous games, including this. One area which would be looked upon from Dack’s absence, is how the team responded without his creativity – an ideology which Rovers might have to succumb to, if the playmaker does depart during the summer. Although the chances overall were created, the killer instinct that Dack has shown throughout his time at Ewood Park was what Rovers lacked the most during this game, from an attacking perspective.
As Rovers move into the final 6 games of the season, they currently occupy 16th place with 47 points and a -10-goal difference. With the gap to the relegation zone being cut to 8 points, there is an argument to suggest that Rovers will need to buck their ideas up, otherwise could potentially find themselves sucked into a battle they – in January – would have felt they had no right to be in.
In terms of upcoming fixtures, the games now occur thick and fast, with the next challenge being against Derby County at Ewood Park on Tuesday, 9th April at 7:45pm. After the visit of the playoff chasers, Rovers then get on their bus and head to Nottingham to face Martin O’Neill’s Forest side on Saturday, 13th April at 3pm. Once their meeting with Forest is complete, Rovers then travel down to London on Good Friday (19th April), to face manager-less, (as of writing), Queens Park Rangers at 3pm.
