Rovers managed to quell their run of consecutive defeats, but could only manage a draw as they were pegged back by bottom side, Rotherham United, on New Year’s Day in a 2-2 draw. Jon Dahl Tomasson reflected on the opening game of 2024 to RoversTV, highlighting his side’s collective effort, but also their frailties that led to two points being dropped.
“Today’s game was a missed opportunity and we’re disappointed not to win the game. When you look at the performance and compare it to the result, we definitely should have gotten more out of the game. We know that Rotherham United have recently beaten Middlesbrough and drew with Sunderland as they fight for their lives at the bottom of the league. We knew what they were good at, which was set-plays, second balls, ‘chaos’ balls into the box and defending well in a low block. I think we created plenty of chances and credit should go to our boys for creating those chances, because we had a lot of clear chances, which is the hardest type to create in football.
“We scored two excellent goals and we gave two soft goals away as we learn on the job. The first was Rotherham showing their quality from the corner and we didn’t prevent the cross for their second goal, which was a problem. We had two versus one on the wing and the same in the middle and we failed to win the duel. Saying that, it was important not to lose the game, late on, but I think the players created a lot of chances, today.
“Credit to the players who created a lot of great chances to score, which is a difficult thing to do, especially against a low block. I think we can count five clear chances, which is very good at this level, which I’m pleased about. We probably needed to have a two-goal lead because you can always concede from a set-play, a dangerous moment or a mistake. It’s been an extremely difficult period for us. We’ve had a lot of players who have been playing in this great, but busy festive period for the first time in their lives and they’re learning how to cope with that. Now, we’re going to have a lot more time to work on the training ground and to recharge, because we’ll be playing every week starting from the Cambridge United game, rather than having two or three games per week. We need that rest.
“There’s been a lot of physical and mental fatigue in this period. It’s great to play so many games, but it’s probably been too many when you have so many injuries and a small squad with players experiencing these festive fixtures for the first-time, but now we have some time to recharge our batteries. We played a great first-half today and had a good second-half where we created a lot of chances, but we had those individual moments where we struggled.
“The late goals are down to experience, not fitness, that’s quite easy. When you have some experience, it increases the chances of seeing games out and winning because they can help the other players. Their experience is growing, but the oldest players we have in the group are 28 and that inexperience is normal. That’s part of football; that’s why experienced players are always needed on the pitch and around the club.
“A couple of the injured players have started training again on their own, not with the team. During January, I think we’ll definitely get three or four players back, which will be nice. First, these players will need to get involved in training before we can think about playing them. They’re working closely with the medical and sports science staff and will need time to get up to speed with the team and the demands of this division. We mustn’t forget that they’ve been out for a while and will need time to get back up to speed.
“Turning our attention to the FA Cup is great, because it’s a great competition which we did well in last season.”
