After Blackburn Rovers were hit for five as they edged back towards the relegation sinkhole, John Eustace reflected on a frustrating and calamitous 5-0 defeat to Bristol City, when speaking to RoversTV.
“We’re really disappointed in the manner we lost the game. To gift them all of their goals was not ‘us’, that’s not what I’ve come to expect from this group, since I’ve been here. I think the performances, since I’ve been here, have been very competitive, which we weren’t tonight. There’s a lot to learn about the group; I’m still learning about the group, but it’s important that we don’t get too low about it. Tonight, has been a wake-up call. We’ve been doing well of late, but now we head into the final four games of the season, knowing that we cannot feel like we are tonight, again.
“Tonight was a shock to the system. I said that we’d have brilliant results and disappointing results between when I came in and the end of the season, and tonight is a disappointing night. Now, we have an opportunity to reflect on tonight and an opportunity to go into the last four games hurt, knowing that we don’t want to feel like this again. The fans that travelled down from Blackburn have been fantastic. We’ve let them down and we’ve let ourselves down. Now, we have an opportunity to put things right.
“It was very evident that tonight’s defending, did not reflect what we’ve been doing in recent weeks and that often leads to punishment. We made some individual errors, tonight, but simultaneously, we weren’t good enough, collectively. That’s including myself and the staff, but this now gives us an opportunity to learn from tonight and we won’t get too low off the back of this result. We now have four big games left and everyone will be needed; the fans, players, staff, we need that togetherness. We’ll head to Elland Road on Saturday and try to right tonight’s wrongs, before two huge home games, back-to-back. I know that we’ll be together and fighting during the closing stages of the season.
“We can be disappointed tonight, but we mustn’t let it get to us. The group are really disappointed that they’ve let everyone down. We’ve all let the town of Blackburn down, tonight, but we have to learn from it. It’s important that we remain level-headed and keep working hard and we return to training tomorrow to prepare for Saturday.
“The lads are very low in the dressing room, but we’re fighters, not victims. We can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves. Tonight was a really bad night and it’s one that we’ve got to learn from, but we’ll go again on Saturday; we’ll roll our sleeves up and be ready to go against Leeds United.
“The next few days are important to raise spirits, but it’s also important that the lads reflect on how we prepared for and played, tonight. We have to stick together and get ready to go again.
“This is the Championship. If you start to look, think about and rely on other results, there will be problems. We have to and will focus on ourselves. Tonight was a terrible night for us, but it gives us a chance to rectify tonight’s mistakes, because we don’t want to feel like this again. We have to be competitive in all the games we play, and tonight was the first-time where we haven’t been competitive. We will learn from it, and I know that this group will be ready and eager to put things right on Saturday.”
