Mowbray says Rovers were unrecognisable in Preston defeat

Tony Mowbray said his side fell below what is expected of them in the first half of the defeat to Preston North End.

But for a late Adam Armstrong penalty, which stopped them going yet another first half without a goal, Rovers would have trailed 2-0 at the break after earlier strikes from Greg Cunningham and Liam Lindsay.

Mowbray made a double switch in a bid to change things, and felt he got a reaction from his side, but that wasn’t enough to stop North End making it five unbeaten at Ewood.

“The team know the way we play, they know the expectations of the club and the manager, they have to go out and do it and they didn’t for long spells,” the manager said.

“The second half, the last half an hour anyway, was much of a team that I recognise, but I can’t accept watching and being a manager of a team that plays in the way that we did in the first half.

“It’s not on and what we’re about and hasn’t been this season. That was my frustration with them.”

Asked for his assessment of the game, Mowbray said: “First half wasn’t very good, second half was better.”

Then asked if the changes at the break, in which he sent on Tyrhys Dolan and Stewart Downing for Jacob Davenport and Joe Rothwell, were a reflection of that, he added: “Not of the individuals but of the team, yeah.”

So what did disappoint the manager about the first half in particular, and what improved after the break?

“No forward passes, messing around in our half when we know where we are in the middle of winter with the surfaces.

“We played the wrong game.

“We played to our forward targets second half, got more deliverers of the ball onto the pitch, pinned them back and deservedly to probably get an equaliser from the pressure late on.

“But it wasn’t to be.

“It was more like us the second half and one that I recognised.”

Rovers got a goal back on the stroke of half time as Adam Armstrong scored from the spot after Sam Gallagher was fouled by Andrew Hughes.

But Mowbray said that didn’t alter his thinking.

“I’m more performance related and it was really poor first half and there were going to be changes,” he explained.”

Mowbray said the second Preston goal, which saw Liam Lindsay head in from a corner, ‘didn’t look great’, but hadn’t watched it back to comment further.