Blackburn moved a step closer to the upcoming League One season by securing a victory at Morecambe.
It took 10 minutes from Blackburn to take the lead when Danny Graham followed up to score after Bradley Dack had been denied. A second came with half an hour played when Elliott Bennett, not known for his aerial ability, headed in a Ben Gladwin goal to leave Rovers in control.
Rhys Turner did pull a goal back for Morecambe before half time but Blackburn ran out 2-1 winners at the Globe Arena.
Morecambe: Trialist, Lund (sub McGowan 82 mins), Trialist (sub Brownsword 82 mins), Trialist (sub Winnard 68 mins), Brough (sub Conlan 82 mins), Kenyon (sub Hedley 82 mins), Rose, Thompson (sub Yawson 75 mins), Campbell (sub Wildig 68 mins), Turner (sub Trialist 68 mins), Oliver (sub Ellison 75 mins).
Subs not used: Maher, Jordan.
Blackburn: Raya (sub Steele 63 mins), Caddis, Lenihan, Mulgrew (c), Williams, Smallwood (sub Ward 74 mins), Whittingham (sub Tomlinson 74 mins), Bennett, Dack (sub Evans 63 mins (sub Hardcastle 88 mins), Gladwin (sub Nuttall 74 mins), Graham (sub Feeney 63 mins).
Subs not used: Grayson, Doyle.
Tony Mowbray told the Official Website he was pleased enough with what he saw. Despite admitting there was some frustration but the boss thought there was ‘plenty of good stuff’ seen.
‘It was a good workout, I thought they gave us a good game. As you would have expected, they worked extremely hard against us.’
Adding: ‘We obviously scored some early goals but I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded. It was a fantastic strike from the boy but we could have avoided it. We weren’t overly threatened defensively and we created quite a few chances, but we didn’t manage to add to our goal tally which was a bit frustrating. But there was plenty of good stuff tonight.’
There’s still areas to work on, which Blackburn have time in the coming weeks, but Mowbray went on to say he feels Rovers are getting closer to the levels required.
‘I think the shape of the team is coming together whatever formation we play, whether it is three or four at the back, one striker or two strikers, wingers or wing-backs, we’ll keep working on the basics of what we do and try to just keep going, it is getting closer now and the intensity has got to keep lifting.’
Blackburn will next be in action at another League Two side Grimsby on Tuesday.
