i think we had confidence from another year of experience we had confidence from knowing
we possessed that physicality and confidence to know that we had ball players who can hurt
most teams in the league we had semi in goal been outstanding for us right the way through
with lost Lee Wallace to injury Sam McCallum came in on loan from Norwich work on the
left wing back for us and we played with a consistent back three there of Yoann Barbet,
Jimmy Dunne and Rob Dickie who have been getting stronger and stronger as a partnership
working with Albert Adomah a winger converted to wing back but doing a great job for us
in midfield we played with the three five two we had ball and Andre Dozzell
sitting we had Chris Willock up top with Lyndon Dykes and the go between the target or the the
ten creator was Ilias Chair so that was really our shape and we thought Blackburn would come
and be on the front foot we were wary of the threat from Ben Brereton Díaz and
from Sam Gallagher we thought Joe Rothwell was a powerhouse in midfield when we got the team sheet
in fact we saw that Rothwell was on the bench and gallery was on the bench so it was very much
a defensive lineup remember rightly they had Ayala at the back they had Lenihan i think they had van
heck at the back Nyambe was a right wing back if i remember correctly but they were very defensive
very physical they were strong sitting in determined to stop us scoring goals basically so
again it was a game we dominated in terms of possession we had over 65 possession i believe
shots etc but they were a hard team to break down they were very hard working committed resilient we
knew we had the cleverness in terms of elias chair and chrissy willock two very talented ball players
we wanted linden diets who's an out and out number nine to to be the target to stretch them
but chris he likewise had the freedom to come inside and really roam if lyndon went central
chrissy could work any side left or right again we look at the stretching to work it but again
from iliac chair midfield to stretch them and really work it we play with our wing backs high
so we're very prepared to push wingbacks on one of our midfielders will go as well
and we'll attack with six and defend with four and as long as we kept top four in terms of security
we felt we could cope with their their attacking threat but the loss of gallagher
or the the non-appearance of gallagher and rothwell allowed us to redominate possession
so it was very much the case of us being on the front foot and talking about how we could hurt a
very resilient blackburn defense tony moby team's a strong organized defense set piece as well
always an attacking threat of set pieces so we had the physicality of dunbar bay
and dickey linda dykes aerially very very strong we knew we could match them
in both boxes for set pieces it was about our cleverness and our play to try and break them down
we were very much a case of narrowing up so if the balls if the ball comes down we go wing backs
to win back so if there's a situation there we'll always go win back to win back the two
are handled by our three defenders so we're quite comfortable with that in terms of their midfield
they're sitting here at the back here sitting on two out two there three would come up
and mark dyches and willock so again that would be their place the midfield battle was key and they
were sitting in what we didn't want to do was to have two sitting deep against the one we wanted to
be on the front foot so again our setup was very much up against them so don ball will be sitting
in in the uh deeper line position here in midfield dessert would push on with iliac elias on the left
the zoe on the right or vice versa according to the match situation wing backs mccallum a dome are
pushing on hard and high and again our two center fours will occupy them now len hands very strong
we tended to show to their right side so again our start point from their goal kicks will be
very much weighted in this favor here and as the ball is received again we would work across
and be very comfortable with one of our midfielders jumping up if it was too wide for me
i sent the forward to get there then fielder would jump up again from behind we could make
sure we jump up onto the attacking midfielder and our wing back would narrow to give us a security
so as always having that security the left side a white man would come in then the right side of
the left man will come in but it's again being on the front foot the mindset is key in these games
and speaking to tony's staff post game they were very wary of the attacking theater we posed
so it's all very much a mindset game about how you approach the game how you attack the game be on
the front foot and by seeing their team sheet it gave us that confidence to really go and attack it
ben's a player i know well um had bennett for nottingham forest
a good athlete good finisher he's obviously developed in tremendously well under tony
but a real attacking goal threat what ben does is stretch he stretch and he runs and he reacts early
so my point what does that mean reacts early if we're here and ben's lunch in here ben will just
turn and spin if they get it in midfield ben will always have to either go on the outside
drive on the inside and he's always possessing that threat what we had to do was make sure a
we're tight at source stop the release and make sure we held a high line so let me move
everything back we couldn't afford to be too deep and open up the gaps we had to be up against them
all the way here pushing really up nice and high and as i say burton des looking for the gaps here
if we could condense the forward pass and a goalkeeper had a high start point
any long ball we had senny come out quick off of his line we had the 2v1 situation jimmy dunn
and rob dickey both of whom aerially strong and physical athletes so we felt we could contain him
what we were concerned about pre-match was this being gallagher as well gallop again at six foot
four six foot five strong powerful athlete to have the two of them would oppose us uh definitely not
an issue but it would have been a worry for us but his absence again gave us more confidence
we thought we could have the mobility and they they had the physicality at the back ben hackon
i believe played on the right-hand side ayala lenahan is strong so he wanted to keep it away
from that side neanby good athlete but again sam mccallum our left wing back a good athlete so you
want to match up the physicality which was fine for us but it's for us it's a cleverness we're a
good team when we get into the areas on the edge of their defensive third and that was a key area
for us could we work it into the pockets linda deutsch would look to occupy it chrissy willett
would go to occupy the three it's finding the s chair in these pockets here if he can work in
these pockets on the half turn then we can combine so again it was key for us to have anna desell
in in attacking position don ball and andre not being level at any time here making sure we're
never on the same plane andre would go high if he went deep don ball would go high and again
look to occupy players to allow elias to fee up they were very reluctant very recent to step
in here they knew because stretching behind so they stayed here and looked a dot the man onto
elias he's a clever player so once we beat the 1v1 or we drew them out in that main central area then
we could find balls into our center forward so very basic in terms of how you'd approach the game
but they're a good well-organized team and what you have to do is the basics outstandingly well
if you look here in under the cell we have a left footed ball player
great range of pass what we didn't want to do is have him come in too deep i'm sure
blackburn would be keen to push him back dumble would provide that defensive screen
andre had that freedom to really roam and that gave us that confidence that he could
find combined with ilias once he pushed up into this situation here and have honor desell and
elias chair chrissy willock stretching and lyndon lights we can now occupy their players
we're in a very strong offensive position coming down the left-hand side sam mccallum would join in
drag back their wing back so straight away we have our defensive four we're pushing our players on
i'm very happy very very happy if you're on the left-hand side for our right wing back of doma
to be attacking the far post no problem with that as long as we have that security of the
four against the three and the defensive screen so it was us again being on the front foot having a
confident mindset full of respect you know the the pleasing surprise for us was rothwell not playing
he's a very dangerous player midfield can get forward he can result in their transition
tony's on a magnificent job in terms of changing the way they play far less possession-based far
more counter-attack transition and they've been very dangerous all season as we've seen
so rothwald's absence i think gave us a bit more confidence that wouldn't be the case on the day
how do you get your best ball players on the ball it's a problem that
coaches work with and opposing teams are trying to nullify that threat so how do you how do you
work the pockets and again it's the movement of our front players so the ray dice he was
occupying two he was dangerous eerily he'd been strong to the game he occupied two center halves
chrissy willock again was stretched and combined well with sam mccallum it was how do we get elias
chair into these pockets that would allow you know rob dickey to find him to work in these
areas and again that was always our main game you know if we have to go out wide to the wing back
to play through midfield that's what we will do but it's always to try and get your best players
in these areas why a they can get in the half turn and play forward up back and through they
can set and spin and again we have enough quality in diets and willock and the immediate midfield
player pushing on to have numbers as well and what we can't do as we're a poor team when we isolate
key players in the dyches fam zone but now within 10 15 yards we've got to make sure
we get bodies around the ball rob dickey found it he has chair in a real pocket he had that
half yard of space which all the talented player needs and the rest you know about
the championship was all about fine margins we were playing exceptionally well the season before
we found ourselves 19th or 20th in the league we were creating more chances more expected
goals but it was just the fine margins we would miss and the randomness of the game of football
went against us what i think we found was consistency from a defensive perspective
to have barbae on the left i think he's played so many consecutive games now breaking records
done in the middle at six foot four rob dickey at six foot three we're now physically powerful team
in midfield don ball if he's playing at six foot one six foot two we're now a big strong team but
we can play as well and it's all about being a nice footballing team but you have to be able to
deal with the physicality of the league so i think we had confidence from another year of experience
we had confidence from knowing we possessed that physicality and confidence to know that
we had ball players who can hurt most teams in the league teams were wary of
attacking prowess in a very respectful way so i just think in general that word confidence
and belief grows over the course of the season and that black bone there's certain
games and sees which give you that belief let me build on that and move forward from there
you