A well-deserved hard-fought 1-0 victory over Cardiff City eased Rovers back into action following the second international break of the campaign. A delighted Jon Dahl Tomasson explained to RoversTV, how pleased he was that his team had managed to secure all three points against a difficult opponent.
“It was a brilliant win today against a tough side who make life difficult for you. They’re very solid defensively and don’t give a lot of space away, but I think it’s always good to get a win, especially after the 4-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers, before the international break. It was great to get a win at home, in-front of our fans, who deserve to see us win and another clean-sheet is also brilliant.
“It was a well-deserved victory, but I do think we played a bit slowly, sometimes, especially in the second-half. We discussed it at half-time, saying we need to play quicker and look to move the ball forwards, in order to get into the right area & Joe’s (Rankin-Costello) goal was a good example of us getting in-behind with a perfect ball from (Tyrhys) Dolan which allowed Joe to score with a good finish. When you only score one goal, it can make things tough, but the boys showed great spirit and togetherness to get the three points and clean-sheet. Leopold Wahlstedt also showed his quality with a big save at the end, as well!
“As nice as it was to win 1-0, we could have scored more goals! I think we would have all been more relaxed had we led 3-0! I think we had five good chances to score goals, today and I believe scoring two is enough to win you football matches. But the boys played well today and showed how difficult it can be to play against a block of defenders, who sit in a tight space. That’s a very hard aspect of football, however, we created enough chances to win the game by more goals. Joe’s goal was excellent, but I feel he could have had a hattrick, like he managed during the international break against Accrington Stanley!
“Joe has that quality of being able to move forwards, both on and off the ball. The ball finds him. He’s good at finding the space in the box when he’s running forwards. It was a great finish from the lad and when you score, you can be proud of your effort!
“I’m extremely pleased with the clean-sheet and the overall performance. Defending is an important part of football. We’ve been attacking really well, and we didn’t give many chances away, defensively, so the defence deserve great credit, as do the whole team as we defend together. It was a really good, solid performance.
“The disallowed goal was a big call for the officials and I think they got it right. Their striker (Karlan Grant) was in an offside position. It was a massive call and the officials deserve credit for that. We all know we’ve been unlucky with decisions lately; Leicester City should have probably been down to 10, we conceded a clear offside goal against Middlesbrough and the disallowed Andy Moran goal at Coventry City, too. This was a big decision, and it was the correct decision which was really positive. I would be lying if I said I saw the infringement from the dugout in real time, my eyes aren’t that good(!) At that distance and that speed, it’s quite difficult to see the six-yard box with so many bodies! I didn’t see the offside at the time, but I watched it back.
“The players have played excellently this season. Their performances have been great. We haven’t always gotten the results and points to back that up, but that’s football. However, if you keep doing the correct things, long-term, you will eventually earn the points you deserve. Winning 4-0 at QPR and deservedly beating Cardiff City 1-0, today is a great way to start this block of games. We have a lot of games in this upcoming period. We’ll now prepare to travel to London to play Millwall on Tuesday. We always go onto the pitch with the intent of winning each game; sometimes, we will win, sometimes we won’t, because it’s a tough league.
“That save from Leo at the end was vital, especially as he didn’t do much at the office, today! We were in control of the game and Cardiff didn’t have many chances, but a goalkeeper should always have high concentration levels and should be alert enough to make big saves when required. He did that, today. It was a great save which he should be happy with, because we’re all delighted with it.
“Millwall will be tough on Tuesday, but there are no easy games in this league, no matter who you play. It’s a great league with high intensity and good players. Every game is difficult, but the only thing we can do is to continue playing our way, keep on performing well and doing the right things, then over time, you will begin to earn the right results.
“Hopefully, all of the players have got through today’s game safely. I haven’t heard anything yet from the medical department, so we’ll know more over the next few days.”
