John Eustace identified Luton Town’s roughness as the ideal place for Makhtar Gueye and Yuki Ohashi to begin their first Blackburn Rovers encounter together.
Gueye was given his first start since late October, with Ohashi playing immediately behind him while Todd Cantwell was suspended. This is only the pair’s second time on the pitch together.
Rovers have remained fairly steady with their 4-2-3-1 formation, which frequently sees them press with a front two. Ohashi and Gueye played 30 minutes together against Oxford United in August, but since then it’s been one or the other.
Eustace believed that Gueye’s extra height and physicality would be beneficial for set-pieces, but Ohashi has continued to perform well despite his goal drought.
“I thought it went nicely. We expected to play against a physically strong team like Luton,” he said.
“They play a lot of long balls, so having two big boys to tackle them was important from a defensive and set-piece perspective.
“On turnovers, we needed that strength to protect the ball, and Pape (Gueye) played exceptionally well.
“His assist for the opening goal was excellent; he played a key role. He effectively linked it for everyone else. We were courageous in our team selection, with two forwards and Amario included.”
Rovers will have a week off before travelling to Millwall on Saturday. The team will play four games in 11 days, including home games against Sunderland and away games against Leeds United over the festive season.
“It will be a hard period, but that is why we have a squad.
“We had employed 25 players up until now; we made three or four adjustments today, and the players made a significant difference. They were fantastic.
“It demonstrates that everyone knows and does their jobs. We have no egos in this group of players, and everyone is excited for the next game.”
Leave a Reply