Tony Mowbray reflects on Blackburn progress since humiliating defeat
Tony Mowbray was pleased with how his side have bounced back as they came out on top in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Stoke City.
Reda Khadra’s second-half strike was all that could split the two teams at the Bet365 stadium. The win moved Rovers up to fourth as Stoke slipped out of the play-off spots. And Mowbray reflected on how well his side have performed since their 7-0 thrashing to Fulham earlier this month.
Speaking after the game, he said: “I was brought up on a council estate in a steel town and when somebody punches you in the face, you have to fight back.
“In the Championship it’s very hard to win games and I’ve talked long and hard about the mentality of this group. They really are wonderful. It’s good to see a lot of young lads in the dressing room happy and bouncing tonight and proud of each other.”
“I expect my team to react after defeats and I know that was a heavy defeat. We were short on centre-halves then and we put it behind us very quickly. I haven’t done anything, they’ve reacted because they’re good human beings and good guys.”
Since that loss, Blackburn have taken ten points from a possible 12.
They also sit just ten points off league-leaders Fulham, who were held to a draw in controversial fashion earlier in the day.
Midfielder Joe Rothwell has been a major factor in his side’s turn-around in form, and the gaffer was sure to mention how pleased he was.
“With total respect to Romaine Sawyers and Mario Vrancic, they are wonderful footballers. But they’re not as mobile as Joe Rothwell and we needed him out there today.”
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Mowbray also took time to praise goalscorer Khadra, who is currently on loan at the club from Brighton.
The German midfielder was brought into the staring line-up for the game, and was superb throughout.
“Reda is a great kid. I feel as though he’s still learning about the mentality to play for this team. Yet he still has amazing attributes that we have to give him the opportunity to play.
“With that pace, the rocket of a right-foot – he did a job for us today and we’re delighted he did.”
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