Jon Dahl Tomasson did not feel Blackburn Rovers were ‘too open’ against Ipswich and felt the goals were down to individual mistakes.
Rovers were 3-1 down at half-time and ended up losing the match 4-3. They could have easily conceded more with Aysnley Pears making a couple of important saves with Nathan Broadhead hit the post.
Against the Tractor Boys, Rovers were constantly caught in transition after giving the ball away. Ipswich’s shape made it difficult for Adam Wharton to cover the space in front of the defence as a single pivot, with Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin causing havoc.
None of the goals came directly from a counter-attack though and Tomasson disputed that has been an issue for his side. He pointed back to the goals conceded against Middlesbrough and Sunderland too to emphasise his belief that errors have been the issue.
“If you look at the errors, it was personal mistakes and individual errors,” Tomasson told The Lancashire Telegraph. “It was unnecessary.
“It’s always like that when you concede a goal. Mistakes are made, that is part of football. When you score three goals at Ipswich, you shouldn’t be happy if you don’t get a result.
“I don’t think it was because we were open, the goal we gave away. IF you look at those moments, Middlesbrough the offside goal, that wasn’t because we were open.
“We conceded a penalty, a set-piece goal, against Sunderland. It’s not because we are attacking but because we make mistakes.”
Though they were open at the back, Rovers continued to cause issues going forward. They scored three goals and had two other big chances which produced big saves from the Ipswich goalkeeper.
Tomasson was very impressed by his side’s second-half performance in an attacking sense but couldn’t deny that they were undone by the opening 45 minutes. The Rovers head coach was frustrated at the manner of the goals.
“I think we can agree that we could’ve scored six or seven goals if you look at the chances,” he said. “It was an open game for each team, there was lots of entertainment.
“Coming here and creating that amount of chances, I am really satisfied. Of course, the first half I am not happy with.
“We knew it would be a tough game, they have done excellent here but we gave away a quick, unnecessary goal away. We showed great attitude and then there was a second goal we gave away.
“After the break, I think the lads showed resilience, great mentality and we had a lot of opportunities Ipswich also had a lot of opportunities but some of ours were even bigger.”