Rob DaviesBlackburn boss Tony Mowbray was left eating his words as he conceded that missed chances and lack of anticipation for Swansea’s “deep block” in the second half left his side with zero points.
For much of the pre game build up, Mowbray insisted he knew exactly what he was going to be up against at the Swansea.com Stadium, but Paterson’s deep cross which saw Obafemi score more than likely caught him and his defence by surprise.
He points to the sending off being a turning point, as Mowbray had prepared his team to be playing a fluid team who ‘keep possession and put men in front of the ball’ – something which was never going to happen after Ryan Manning’s second half red card.
Blackburn still sit in second but have played three games more than some of the chasing pack, with Swansea now up to 16th with one or two games in hand on a few of their close rivals.
Mowbray said: “Missed opportunities (so many).
“The game, until the sending off, went as we thought.
“I thought we created some chances on the back of their possession.
“It was a disappointing goal, we don’t lose goals like that generally, a diagonal ball into the box and I think the goalkeeper should have taken a braver starting position.
“We should have defended it better and we have, we have had a lot of clean sheets and they are very disappointed with the goal we lost.
“I don’t think that’s the story of the game. After the sending off the team found it difficult to break through a deep block and we hadn’t prepared for a deep block, we’d prepared for Swansea who keep the ball and put men infront of the ball and try and play through your lines.
“The game changed and it felt as though we had a young team out there.
“There was a naivety of not knowing how to break through a deep block, yet we did create chances.
“Lenihan should have scored, like Buckley’s first half chance, he had an almost open goal that he should have put the ball in the net.
“It wasn’t to be. It felt a little bit like it wasn’t going to be our night. We needed to be more clinical when the chances came, we should have had a few goals.
“It became difficult against a deep block against a team not trying to score a goal, they were trying to keep a 1-0 lead. I don’t know how many efforts or crosses we had, but credit to them, they fought really hard and showed they were playing with intensity for their manager and team.”
An excellent and pragmatic approach to diversity. The team and coaches showed that, when necessary, they can change in order to secure points.
Paterson showed that we have missed his daring approach (even when not match fit) Wolf was superb as were Grimes, Downes, Christie and Cabango. The team dug in, enjoyed the luck that was missing in the Hull game, and played to the circumstances. Good substitutions, but felt sorry for Obafemi having to go off, still, the needs of the team must come first. Proud of the boys always, but particularly tonight.
Well said