Rovers boss Gary McSheffrey was delighted to see his side maintaining their late season momentum as they signed off their home campaign with a win over Burton Albion.
Goals from Joe Dodoo and Josh Martin, plus a Jonathan Mitchell penalty save, saw Rovers triumph 2-0 to continue the recent trend of positive performances.
McSheffrey on how the game panned out:
“I thought we rode our luck in the first half, weathered a storm. It was really windy and they play direct. They’ll grind you down, win corners, throw-ins where [Tom] Hamer can launch it in.
“I thought we stood up to them really well and dug in.
“In the best bit of play of the half we went ahead. Adam [Clayton] finds a lovely through ball, Knoyley delivers the cross and Joe [Dodoo] did what we want him to do. He was a real handful, winning his headers.
“We got in at half time with our noses in front and I thought in the second half we were comfortable apart from a couple of really good efforts from them.
“We had three or four good counterattacks and finally Josh [Martin] finished one off with a really good bit of play.”
On the penalty:
“There was lots of grappling going on and he said Kyle [Knoyle] wasn’t looking at the ball. [Cameron] Borthwick-Jackson for them doesn’t look at the ball from set plays - he acts as a blocker who grapples people, so I’m not sure how they came to that decision.
“But Johnny [Mitchell] makes a good save.”
On being clinical in front of goal:
“That’s the difference.
“We’ve picked up some momentum and that is five games now, barring the first half at Shrewsbury, where I’m happy with the way the lads have played.
“They’ve got on the ball and been brave.
“In this one they showed the ugly side as well. They dug in, worked hard, won second balls, got lots of first contacts in the box and defended well.
“The momentum has picked up and it’s just unfortunate that we’ve run out of games with it.”
On Joe Dodoo’s performance:
“He started down the middle and then we wanted him to be the deeper one of the two, picking up the deep midfielder.
“I think the goal just showed the energy it gave him and the confidence. He looked like he could run all day.
“It’s amazing what a goal can do for somebody.
“In the second half, we just tried to manage the game a bit better. It was windy out there.
“He peeled out wide into areas, up against their smaller full back. It wasn’t pretty second half but we got the win.”
On the message to the players before the game:
“It’s just important that we finish the season as good as we can and keep this momentum.
“We need to give the fans something to be optimistic about coming back to the stadium next year.
“I think they can probably see how we want to play with the performance level of late.
“It was about winning the last home game because we’re not playing here for a while and it gives the fans some optimism.”
On handing Adam Clayton the captain’s armband:
“He’s an ex-Premier League player. He’s stepped up his game in the last four or five weeks.
“Initially I chucked him in a bit too early. You sink or swim because you don’t know where they’re at and he’d missed a year of football at Birmingham, albeit training and fit. It showed he didn’t have the match-sharpness against one of the best teams in the league.
“But we gave him the time he needed.
“He’s good in the dressing room, he’s good at the training ground and you can see his experience. He’s good in the media and he knows the game.
“It was a no-brainer. It was going to be him or Ro-Shaun [Williams] and I went with Adam.
“He goes into the summer knowing he’s still a player and his fitness levels are there.
“He can come back with real confidence for next season.”