Blackburn Rovers had been conceding goals at quite an alarming rate this season, especially in the two matches prior to Fulham. So the clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Fulham delighted Paul Ince.
Going into the Fulham match Rovers had conceded four goals in each of the previous two matches, with the defending at times suicidal. Due to this Ince has said that Rovers went back to basics to ensure we did this properly, and this paid off with the clean sheet and win (his first League win at Ewood Park) over Fulham on Saturday thanks to Matt Derbyshire’s late goal.
Ince is quoted on Sky Sports: “It is more satisfying that we kept a clean sheet when you look back over the last two weeks and see we have conceded eight goals.
“We went back to basics on the training ground this week and the application from the lads was awesome.“
Incey’s praise didn’t stop there, he paid tribute to the defence and in particular Paul Robinson who made some superb saves.
He added: “The most important thing is that our back five today was outstanding. Paul Robinson made two world-class saves.
“He made one in the first minute and if that goes in, heads can go down and it could be a completely different story.
“He made another one 15 minutes from time from Johnson, world-class, and if that goes in it could be a different story.
“When you play in the Premiership, teams are always going to get chances, but it’s how many you give them.
“We gave them two or three today and we had six or seven, but to be fair I would have taken a 0-0 because I think it was important that we got the clean sheet.“
The introduction of the substitutes played a major role in Rovers winning, with Carlos Villanueva (who came on in the 65th minute) and Derbyshire (a 75th minute arrival) combining with the help of Roque Santa Cruz for Derbs to score the winner in the 85th minute and the impact of the substitutes is also something that delighted Incey.
Incey continued: “When you have the likes of Roque and Carlos and Matty you are always going to create chances and 1-0 is always a great result.
“Carlos played a lovely ball over the top and Roque got the header like an old-fashioned centre-forward knocking it down, and Matty Derbyshire did what he does best and that is getting across people and putting the ball in the back of the net.“
NOT REGISTERED TO VITAL BLACKBURN? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! Register by clicking here.
For information on how to join the Vital Fantasy Football Game (and how to also join the Vital Blackburn Mini League!!!) Click Here.
Share this article
Related Articles
