Tony Mowbray feels Blackburn – following a bug that swept through the squad leading up to the game – put on a professional performance to see of Rochdale at Ewood Park on Tuesday.
A 2-0 victory, which was a third in a row at Ewood, seeing Blackburn respond to a frustrating draw against Northampton heading into Christmas, took Rovers to within a point on second placed Shrewsbury and an automatic promotion spot.
An own goal from Rochdale’s Kgosi Ntlhe put Blackburn ahead with the lead doubled, ultimately the points secured, ahead of half time when Charlie Mulgrew scored his ninth goal of the season from the penalty spot.
Several players were far from full fitness but Blackburn ‘got the job done’ with Mowbray praising the professionalism in his post-match conference.
He told the Official Website: ‘The bug is still going around, three or four of them are still coughing and spluttering but it was a professional performance. Rochdale really started with some intensity in the opening 20 minutes and we had to match that. We got our noses in front and tried to manage it in the second half. We spoke at half time about keeping a clean sheet, not being expansive and keeping our shape – we got the job done.’
Northampton was frustrating, being held to a draw against the strugglers, but a clean sheet and a win was the main thing here.
Mowbray added: ‘They’ve gelled really well this season. They showed good composure to keep the clean sheet and score some goals, it was a good performance. The points were the most important thing today, there are a lot of games in quick succession and it was important on the back of the frustration at Northampton to win today.’
Blackburn could end the year in the automatic promotion spots if Shrewsbury’s result is bettered – currently Rovers are five points behind leaders Wigan.
