Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray satisfied with point at Bristol Rovers
Posted Sunday, April 15, 2018 by PA
Tony Mowbray remained upbeat despite seeing a stoppage-time goal from Chris Lines dent Blackburn’s automatic-promotion hopes.
The midfielder volleyed home from inside the box deep into four added minutes to cancel out Charlie Mulgrew’s 65th-minute penalty.
The result left Rovers second in the League One table, five points above Shrewsbury, who have a game in hand.
Manager Mowbray was frustrated, but far from downhearted.
“It’s always disappointing to concede a goal in stoppage time, but that’s football,” he said.
“We are still in the box seat for automatic promotion, with one defeat in 30-odd games, so I am not going to be too upset.
“Bristol Rovers make it difficult for teams here and we had to show great resilience at times, which I was very pleased with.
“Having said that, we had enough chances to make the game safe. There was a free header at the far post, which we managed to put into the side-netting.
“Other opportunities went begging and when you are only a goal up, you always risk something happening at the end.
“We take it on the chin and move on. The lads have done a lot of travelling recently and it probably showed in the first half.”
It looked good for Blackburn when Mulgrew coolly netted from the spot, sending Sam Slocombe the wrong way with a low shot after Tom Broadbent had brought down Richard Smallwood.
Derrick Williams was the main culprit in failing to make the game safe, heading badly wide at the far post shortly after the goal when it seemed easier to score.
That kept the hosts in it and they capitalised when the ball dropped invitingly to Lines inside the box for him to beat David Raya with a sweet right-footed strike.
Rovers boss Darrell Clarke had no complaints about the penalty or the result of a game played on a boggy and treacherous pitch.
He said: “Tom Broadbent has gone to ground and given the referee a decision to make. It was a touch of inexperience on his part.
“But my players never know when they are beaten. I think that is 25 points we have taken from losing positions this season and that does them enormous credit.
“There wasn’t much between the teams. Blackburn have a lot of quality and the header wide was a bad miss.
“But we had opportunities too and, considering the number of players I have out injured, it was another very pleasing performance.”
Clarke gave a debut to right-sided midfielder Mo Baghdadi in the closing stages.
“That’s the seventh debut we have given this season and it augurs well for the future because my young players have to earn them,” he said.
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