‘We knew it would be a fight’: Blackburn Rovers boss on facing Portsmouth pressure with side latest to fall at Fortress Fratton
Valerien Ismael is adamant his side were prepared for what they’d face as they went down to Fratton Park defeat.
And the Blackburn Rovers boss didn’t feel there was any threat from John Mousinho’s side, after they’d fallen behind in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat for his men.
Rovers went down to their fifth loss in six games, as Ismael’s tenure as boss starts in bleak fashion after succeeding John Eustace at the end of last month.
Rovers had moments of threat before the break, but the Blues were broadly comfortable in the second half, as they collected a big win.
Ismael told the Lancashire Telegraph: ‘It's a big disappointment, especially how we approached the first half.
‘I think that we started good the first 10-15 minutes, but then the injury changed the rhythm of the game a little bit. Then we conceded the first shot, a goal. After that, we were not really in danger.
‘We finished the first half much better, with some great chances to score. Second half was much better. I think that's exactly what we expected from the players, to play with more confidence.
‘We know that we need to change the mentality from low block and to be more proactive on the pitch. We know it takes time but the players need to believe more in that because they've got the quality. What we missed just in the second half was, again, the last bit in the final third.
‘I think it's the same picture since now many games. It's just to implement that belief, the way we want to play, to create new habits. Again, we will use the game to work with the player, to make sure when we are in the position we need to be more dangerous in the box.
‘You have to first keep a clean sheet and stay in the game. We knew that it would be a fight. We knew that, we were not surprised.
‘It's a big, big frustration at the minute. We have to stay positive. It's another game again next week.
‘As I said, the first thing is to be focused on the next game to make sure we can win and get the three points. When you get the three points, then you come back with confidence.’
Blackburn Rovers: ‘We didn’t test Pompey keeper enough’
Although stating he felt his team performed reasonably after the break, Ismael acknowledged Rovers football wasn’t progressive enough to generate clear openings.
He told Rovers TV: ‘The second half was much better, there was more conviction, but we still were missing that desire to score a goal with the crosses and the shots on target. We needed to be proactive and to change the mindset.
‘You need to take more risks and there were too many square balls and passes backwards. We didn’t test the goalkeeper enough and this is what we have to do for the next games.
‘The goal was too easy and I think we’ve conceded a lot of soft goals, simple goals. We have to make it more difficult for the opponent to score goals and have more conviction in ourselves and be more proactive.’