Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has lamented over the club’s poor defending as they succumbed to a disappointing 4-2 defeat to Crewe on the road. The Rovers recently ended an eight-match winless streak by beating Wigan Athletic but they could not sustain the form as they were once again vulnerable on the road.
Speaking to iFollow Rovers, Mowbray admitted that the team were embarrassing from set-pieces where Wednesday had the upperhand for most of the game.
He said: “Our inability to defend crosses is what has cost us today. When you are trying to match players up in terms of the marking, it was pretty embarrassing today. We had 5’8′ players against 6’6’ players. That was how things panned out, although we were on top for the majority of the game, after conceding a ridiculous opening goal. I don’t want to go into it but the first goal was embarrassing today. We have to sort it out and we will do.”
The goal was reminiscent of the one scored by Romelu Lukaku in the FA Cup, with the Belgian international towering over the rival defenders and coming away with an easy header to put United in front. Whilst Live Football Tickets speculated that this year’s FA Cup Final will be the most searched for match this season, you have to ask who would rather be there than at Gresty Road!
Blackburn had built up a strong form at the turn of the year and a four-match winning streak saw them positioned eighth and within three points off the playoff places. However, their form has since been abysmal with just one win and one draw from the next nine matches and this sees them at the tailend of the standings with a 10-point deficit to the top six.
Following the international break, the Lancashire outfit face Aston Villa on the road and the match should provide another difficult challenge for them, given the Villains change in fortunes over the past month. The west Midlands outfit appeared to be dropping out of contention for the playoffs recently but they have made a tremendous comeback with four straight victories which have propelled them to the sixth position. The previous meeting between the sides ended in a 1-1 draw with Conor Hourihane grabbing a dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser.