Blackburn Rovers head coach Tony Mowbray admitted his side had to respect a point after playing the closing stages of their goalless draw with Lincoln City with ten men.
City created the better opportunities during a tight first half at the Bank, with Freddie Draper sending their clearest chance wide after meeting Adam Reach’s cross. Blackburn’s only notable effort came from a Todd Cantwell free kick, which George Wickens pushed away before Rob Street prevented the loose ball from going behind for a corner.
Mowbray felt Rovers began the second half with greater purpose and briefly had the ball in the net through Cantwell, although the effort was ruled out for offside. He explained how he felt the visitors were beginning to establish control before Tom Atcheson received a second yellow card for a late challenge on Street in the 69th minute.
“Yeah, of course we’d have wanted three points,” he said, speaking in his post-match interview.
“We came with every intention of getting three points, and I felt as if, the way we started the second half, we started to wear them down.
“My analyst said it was 69% possession. I know you don’t get anything for possession, but we were wearing them down, I think, and had a few half-chances there right at the start of the second half.
“Then the sending-off came and really gave them a lift, if anything. They pushed a six-foot-nine, six-foot-ten centre-forward on and bombed everything on top of us.
“As I said, we’ll take the point. I think you have to in the circumstances. We’re disappointed to only come away with a point, but the way the game went with the sending-off, we’ll have to take it and move on to the next game.”
The dismissal altered the pattern of the contest, with City increasing the pressure as Blackburn dropped deeper. Deji Elerewe headed wide from a Reeco Hackett corner, while Mikkel Ladefoged was introduced to give the Imps another physical presence in attack, and doubtless he’ll be cited time and again by opposition managers. Tanto Olaofe and Conor McGrandles also sent efforts wide and over as the visitors protected their clean sheet.
Mowbray was pleased with the resilience his players showed while operating with ten men, particularly given the demanding schedule and the limited changes he has been able to make to his side.
“I said to them there, ‘Be proud of yourselves.’ To be honest, it felt like a manly performance, a mature performance of men digging in, doing their jobs, winning headers when they had to, blocking shots when they had to, and yet still trying to play with the ten men when we had the opportunity.
“I was pleased for them because it’s a tough place to come, as we saw from the first ten minutes. They had, I don’t know, four long throws in the box and two corners. It’s a barrage that’s coming your way, and we stood up to it tonight.
“We’re disappointed to only get a point, but it’s pleasing not to have lost a game that we could easily have lost on another day.”
Atcheson had already been booked in the 12th minute after pulling Hackett back by the shirt, leaving him with little margin for error thereafter. Mowbray accepted that the young defender must learn from the second challenge, although he did not believe there had been any malicious intent.
“I think it was a big learning curve for him, to be honest, not to just hang a leg in. There was nothing malicious. It wasn’t a bad tackle. He didn’t pull anybody down.
“He was trying to poke it in front of the centre-forward, who went over with a scream, probably, and the referee went for his yellow card, the second yellow card.”
Blackburn ultimately survived City’s late pressure to leave Sincil Bank with a point, while the Imps were left to reflect on a strong performance which did not produce the decisive goal their pressure warranted.
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