Following the tight 1-0 defeat against Hull City, John Eustace thought that his side’s lack of ruthlessness in the last third was to blame.
Finally, Ryan Longman’s late effort proved to be the difference, with the City replacement blasting past Aynsley Pears with only 13 minutes left at Ewood Park.
Rovers did have chances to score before and after Longman’s winner, with Todd Cantwell shooting wide when he should have scored, and Hull defender Alfie Jones was twice in the right place at the right time, hacking a first-half effort from Amario Cozier-Duberry off the line and then denying Andi Weimann a late equaliser.
And the boss was clearly upset with his team’s lack of killing instinct.
“We’re really frustrated, and it’s really disappointing to lose the game,” he told RoversTV after the setback to Ruben Selles’ visitors.
“I believe that after such a great effort against Sunderland a few days ago, it was always going to be a massive effort today.
“Hull arrived and made things difficult today; they set up really effectively. Saying that, we still had two or three wonderful scoring opportunities. When you are not clinical, it will cost you in the end.
“I’ve watched their previous two or three games, and the way they set up has reduced the opposition to almost nothing.
“We realised we had a limited number of chances. I didn’t think they’d score against us, but it was crucial to convert one of those chances, which we didn’t.
“I don’t believe we stamped our authority on the game sufficiently, and there weren’t enough players out there who wanted to be the man.
“They weren’t at the levels we’ve been used to, and the lads are really upset in the dressing room.
“In a scrappy game like that, you want someone to step up with that bit of magic, but we unfortunately didn’t get that.”
Leave a Reply