In the wake of Rovers’ away trip to table-topping Shrewsbury Town, Tony Mowbray sat down with the clubs’ official media to discuss his team selection for the game, as well as what went wrong in the previous game and what he believed Shrewsbury were capable of.
“I’ve got no fears that the players will give the right response. I think the group are really focused, last weekend wasn’t a lack of application to get the job done, I think the game just ran the way it did. I thought we looked very confident and comfortable on the front foot during the first ten minutes where I believe we should have scored a goal or two but Wimbledon made it very difficult after they scored, it became difficult to break them down and having watched the game back we had a couple of really good chances that should have been in the back of the net, however we have to accept that there will be games like that. We should take confidence from our away form at the moment and be looking to go to Shrewsbury to put in a performance that will allow us to try and get all three points.
“Playing away from home is about being a good football team, every game gives you a different problem, every game the opposition change themselves slightly and you have to tinker with the tactics or the formation or the personnel. I genuinely feel that we should be trying to win every game, home or away and that’s not over confidence, but with the group of players we’ve got, we understand that every game is really, really, tough, it’s a big, big game for teams when they play Blackburn Rovers, whether that being home or away, but we must be ready for that and ready to challenge that. It’s good that we’ve won games on the road, but it’s important that we start to win games at home because that’s where we’re going to get the bulk of our points I would hope.
“I’m looking forward to all the games because there are no easy ones. Obviously, we’re going to Shrewsbury who are top of the league and still undefeated, they’ve won seven out of the eight they’ve played. Then, in mid-week, we’ve got a tough one at home to Rotherham, who are a strong and athletic side. We’ve got some tough games, but ones we should be looking forward to and believe that we have the players who will put in performances that allow us to get three points.”
Mowbray was asked whether the approach to the weekends game would be similar to the approach taken before Rovers played Bradford who, prior to Rovers’ visit, won their last 31 games at home.
“I think Shrewsbury are totally different to Bradford or Scunthorpe, I think they’ve got their results in totally different ways that Bradford or Scunthorpe got their results but they found a way of playing that gives them wins and in my opinion, they’re have a totally different way of playing to Bradford or Scunthorpe. Regardless, it’s a game that we’ve prepared for, a game where we’ll be guarded against their strengths and see if we can get the victory.
“I don’t think anyone would have put them down as being unbeaten in their first eight games. It’s a fantastic start for them and it’s a good test for us, we have our own aspirations this year, it’s very early on, in the campaign of course, but we’ll see where we all are at the end of the season.
“I haven’t seen Craig (Conway) since the last game, which tells you that he’s not been with me and the rest of the squad. I assume that he’s not going to be available for us, which is a frustration for everyone really. He felt that he could get through Saturday’s game and yet he didn’t, so the task now is to make sure that by the time his name is next on the team-sheet, he’ll be ready to play a full 90 minutes if required. I also haven’t seen Rekeem Harper. Saying that, I’m pretty sure that neither of the injuries are long term and I’m also sure that they’ll be training by next week. However, whether they’ll be ready for Tuesday’s game, we’ll have to wait and see.
“We’ve got really good options to replace the injured players. (Ben) Gladwin is chomping at the bit for a go, Bradley (Dack) is also getting fitter and he’s been pretty good in training every day, he’s showing that he can dribble, shoot and score using either foot. Harry Chapman, in little cameos has done exceptionally well for us, so let’s see what team we decide to go with and let’s hope it’s the right team that can get us the right result.
“I think if we needed to have that selection, Dack could start, he’s shown real hunger and desire in training as I’ve mentioned, he’s a really impressive footballer in training, he’s got the technical quality, but also the physical attributes, he’s as strong as an ox, he gets knocked down in training and bounces straight back up, he trains with a smile on his face, he’s a fantastic lad that needs a run of games to build his match fairness.”
The manager was also asked as to whether any of the players who have more recently found themselves on the fringe of the squad would be able to cement down a starting place in the future.
“If the team’s functioning and we’re winning, then it’s pertinent to the next fixture. They’ve all got a chance to impress and get into the starting eleven. I like to think that the boys who haven’t yet featured still believe they’ve got every opportunity of breaking through. The team’s been winning and we haven’t tinkered too much with it, bar a few knocks and niggles and generally they’ve been doing alright after we got over the first couple of weeks. Let’s see how we can bounce back this weekend, in what is a big test for us and yet we’ve been to a couple of away grounds and won against teams who have been defeated up until that point, so let’s see if we can go and do it again.”
