Mowbray keeps kids grounded
As Cherries go sour
TONY MOWBRAY warned his young Blackburn side to keep their feet on the ground after they defeated promotion rivals Bournemouth to maintain their own Premier League push.
A first-half own goal from Ben Pearson, deflecting in Brereton Diaz’s shot, and Jan Paul van Hecke’s second-half header helped Rovers claim a fourth straight victory, to move four points behind second-placed Cherries in the table and consolidate fourth place.
Since their heavy 7-0 thrashing by Fulham on November 3, Blackburn are unbeaten in six games and have closed the gap to Bournemouth from 14 points to just four.
Yet Mowbray insisted he would not get carried away with the encouraging form. He said: ‘I don’t want to fall in that trap. There are a lot of young players in this team and they can feel a bit of momentum, they will want to keep that going. That’s a big challenge.
‘Sometimes when young players think it’s going well, they don’t work quite as hard, they make poor decisions. Today their focus was really good.’
After a cagey start, Rovers took the lead when Harry Pickering’s cross was met by Darragh Lenihan. His header brought a brilliant save from Mark Travers but Diaz lifted the rebound onto the bar, off the unfortunate Pearson’s face, and into the net.
The hosts should have levelled minutes later when Ryan Christie bundled his way into the box, only to be denied by Aynsley Pears’ close-range stop. Deep in first-half injury time, Solanke broke clear but was denied by another instinctive Pears save, with the keeper then stopping a Christie free-kick with the last action of the half.
Against the run of play in the second period, Brereton Diaz found himself one-on-one but Travers pulled off a superb block with his feet. From the corner, Van Hecke rose highest to nod into the net and
seal victory. Despite dominating possession, Parker’s men could not carve out a clear opportunity and it was Diaz who had the best chance late on with Travers again stopping the Chile international.
After Bournemouth’s winless run stretched to five games, boss Scott Parker said: ‘We are in a difficult situation at the moment in time.
‘We are in the eye of the storm, the levels we have given ourselves are not there for many reasons. The real test is this moment now and we need to thrive off this moment and embrace it.’