'Not got what Leeds have' - Blackburn Rovers star backs up Daniel Farke Leeds United theory
Blackburn Rovers star man Tyrhys Dolan has revealed how his side overcame the gulf between them and Leeds United in Saturday's win.
Rovers boss John Eustace, who celebrated a personal third straight 1-0 victory over Daniel Farke's Whites, joined the long list of Championship managers pointing out how good Leeds are in his post-match interview. Leeds' quality made Blackburn's victory over them all the more satisfying for Eustace, particularly because they showed real attacking endeavour and could so easily have scored more goals. Rovers hit the woodwork in the first half before Todd Cantwell opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Cantwell later squandered two golden chances to add to his and Blackburn's tally.
Dolan, who won the first half penalty but could consider himself fortunate not to see red for a second half challenge on Junior Firpo, believes the key to beating Leeds was simple - working hard. The attacker admits that Blackburn are not as blessed as Leeds in terms of ability but they more than made up for that in the Ewood Park clash, which came hot on the heels of a victory over another top side in Middlesbrough.
“The results show the quality we have in the team," he said. "Not only the quality, but the hard work that we possess. Everyone’s putting it in and running for each other and the manager because it’s a family out there.
“It all comes from how hard you work. We’ve not got what Leeds and the teams at the top end of the Championship have, but we have that hard work and it shines through to get ourselves over the line, like it did against Leeds.
“The sky’s the limit for us and the wins against two of the top teams in the league are a great confidence booster for us. We’ve just got to keep it going game by game. We’ve been the underdogs this season but we’ve sent a real message to the league that we can’t be counted out.”
Dolan's thoughts echoed Farke's own analysis of where the game was lost for Leeds in the first half. The German believed that the way Leeds went into physical battles early on set the tone and gave Blackburn a platform from which to attack. That formed his half-time team talk, before Leeds showed more urgency but still failed to display composure in a goalless second half.
"I reminded them of the basics, I didn't like our awareness, our sharpness, aggressiveness in the duels at all," he said. "But if you're not leading the duels - a typical scene, the attacker was on the way away from our goal and we were there with a foul. Wide area free-kick comes in, we have to defend it. Long throw comes in, we have to defend it. Then four, five minutes go by and you haven't had that much of the ball. Blackburn is a good side, they can't afford to park the bus at home. But our whole behaviour against the ball was why we didn't organise more winnings of possession."