Prior to Rovers’ re-scheduled clash at home to Fleetwood Town, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray spoke to the clubs’ media team regarding injuries, what he expected from tonight’s opponents and his reflection back on the 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
“The players are looking okay after the weekend; we came in yesterday (Sunday) just to check on everybody as the workload, both physically and mentally, was a lot on Saturday as it was a tough day. But they’re all generally fine, we’ll look after them today and do a bit of video analysis with them on the next opposition, we’ll get them on the grass for 30 minutes or so then prepare for the game on Tuesday night.
“The mental side of the recovery process is helped by the fact you know that you’ve come away from a game like Saturday’s with some reward. It gives a level of positivity as it was a tough fixture for us against a team who are unbeaten at home this year. The players applied themselves really well in order to put on a decent performance, albeit not a winning one, but we have to take the confidence and the belief into Tuesday’s game in order to get the three points.
“I think the point away at Wigan would look like a better point if we can beat Fleetwood. I think Wigan away on paper is a tough ask, that said, I was watching Fleetwood yesterday and this fixture will not be an easy one for us. They’re well set-up defensively, with three big centre-backs, some good technical players in the wide areas and they carry a goal threat in two strikers, so it’s going to be a dangerous game. They’ve also had some decent results so it’s one that we have to really prepare for and hopefully apply ourselves to get the right result.”
Mowbray was asked regarding the importance of Tuesday’s game due to the fact that it is one of two that Rovers have in-hand over the teams around them.
“Hopefully the picture of the league becomes clearer. I’ve said that I’m hoping that we can get stronger as the season unfolds, we’re doing okay at the moment and yet there is a slight imbalance in the points due to the games we’ve played. This is an opportunity for us to pick up three points, however the game is not a forgone conclusion as Fleetwood are a good side with a very experienced manager.
“It seems to me that Ewood has become a difficult place to win at, whether that’s for us or for the opposition. Certainly when I arrived, it looked as if we were afraid to win at home, which was seen by the edgy games we had such as the 1-0 win over Wigan or the 1-1 draw with Cardiff. The difficulty of winning at home was created over a long period of time, but hopefully we’ve turned a corner on that as we’ve picked up a few decent results. Yet saying that, teams come and make it very difficult, they come and stack men behind the ball, which I’m sure Fleetwood will do as well, but I think we’ve got the quality to break them down. It’s a bit of a blow that (Harry) Chapman’s injured his hamstring, as he’s managed to come off and make a difference for us late on, so we’ll have to try and find a way, to continue to get results at home without him.
“The key to this game is not to go a goal down because they are good defensively and carry a threat on the counter-attack, but they put a lot of men behind the ball, they defend the central areas of their goal with three 6foot3 centre-backs and make it very difficult and yet they have some very talented players. I can anticipate a tight, tactical battle for a spell, we need to score a goal and see if they’ll try and ask questions of us, which will then leave them vulnerable for a second goal on the counter-attack, but we’ll see how the game unfolds. What I do know is that they’re an experienced team, who have good players, so it’s a game where we’ll have to be at our best to get a result.”
The manager was also asked how much the depth of the squad will come into play due to the injury to Harry Chapman, as well as the suspensions to both Elliott Bennett and Dominic Samuel.
“The depth of the squad will be important; I’ve been telling the players that the time for rotation will be coming as we’ve got a few players close to 4 bookings, we’ve got suspensions, we’ve got injuries so we’ll have to dig deep and see if the strength of the squad can come to the fore now in this period of the season. The beauty of the game is that a player can now stake his claim to be in the first team. Peter Whittingham is a classic case of someone who has fought for his place, he took his time to get up to speed, he’s found it difficult as a big signing for us because Corry (Evans) and Richie (Smallwood) were doing a pretty good job for us, and yet due to a niggle that Corry picked up, Peter was able to assert himself in the first team, by grabbing the opportunity to play, but that opportunity is also there for others who haven’t been able to play as much as they want to.
“I told all the lads on Saturday that they have to be physically and mentally ready in future games because I don’t want to hear excuses of not having played for 4-5 weeks because that’s why you have to train really hard, and have to play in the u23 games and give it your best shot so that you’re ready to play in the first team if the opportunity presents itself. They’re a good group of lads, they work hard with each other, the camaraderie’s good and I’m sure, whoever we ask to play will give a fantastic account of themselves.
“Every successful team has to have a good defence. I’ve always liked to try and attack and have liked flair players, but generally the teams who get promoted more or less have one of the best defensive records in the league. I think we’ve got a pretty experienced defensive set-up at the moment, it’s got a balance of power and speed and we’re looking okay defensively. We’ve also got a few options in there as well if we pick up injuries or suspensions, but it’s about finding the right balance, we’ll keep searching to find that winning formula, but we’ve done alright over the past couple of weeks. The test is coming as we get deeper into the season, not just for us, but for every club in the division in terms of handling injuries and suspensions, especially as the conditions worsen.”
