John Eustace thought that Blackburn Rovers’ victory over the 10-man Queens Park Rangers was largely down to Todd Cantwell.
In the first forty-five minutes, the visitors had frustrated Rovers with scarce opportunities. But the match was altered by Jonathan Varane’s red card shortly before halftime.
That was combined with Eustace’s audacious, prearranged substitution of Cantwell. He was drawn to the ball on his left side like a magnet for thirty minutes.
Lewis Travis and Danny Batth’s goals were crucial, but the summer addition from Rangers was the one who turned the tide of the game.
“Todd is a top-class player who has had a tough time during the last 18 months,” Eustace stated.
“He’s a great player, and if you’re not, you wouldn’t have had the kind of career he had, playing for such excellent teams. We want to offer him the freedom to play the way he feels and express himself.
We have a highly talented player on our hands if we can pull that off. We have the responsibility of getting this great athlete healthy and productive.
“The ball for the goal was excellent. Because of his skill as a player, everyone else benefits. When he entered the game, you could tell that the other players’ enthusiasm and caliber increased.”
Eustace thought Rovers played a passable first half without creating many opportunities. Cantwell had been ready to go even before the dismissal.
The fact that Batth survived Varane’s shoddy challenge—which appeared to be a red card as soon as he made the tackle—was the largest source of comfort.
“I felt we played really well.
“We had a few half-chances. A few good moments, we kept the ball well and we stuck to our game plan. They go down to ten men and it became more evident we could hurt them down the sides and play around them.
“It was obviously a horrific tackle, we’re glad that Danny got up and he was ok. I don’t think the lad meant it, you have to consider the conditions as well, very wet and he overran it. He went in for the tackle, it looked very bad but I’m not sure he meant to hurt anyone.
“The message at half-time was the same. We knew what we had to do and we brought Todd on to do that. He was coming on regardless, we could see we were getting into good areas and we just needed a final bit of quality to make it count.
“We lifted the tempo, we played out wide and recycled it quickly. Gaps appeared. I’m delighted for Trav, two home games in a row. If you hit the target, you always have a chance of scoring.”
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