Grant McCann praised the impact of the players who came off the bench to help Rovers through to the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.
After a disappointing first half of the first round replay at Accrington Stanley in which they fell behind to a Joe Pritchard strike, Rovers responded superbly with substitutes Luke Molyneux, George Broadbent and James Maxwell all making significant contributions.
And they turned the game on its head with Zain Westbrooke finding the equaliser before Joe Ironside netted to win the tie in extra time.
“The substitutes made a really good impact for us,” McCann said.
“Mols has been struggling a bit so it’s nice that we’ve got a bit of a breather for ten days before the next game. Hopefully he can recover. He didn’t show it tonight - he came on and was outstanding.
“Hursty [Kyle Hurst] has not played many games so there was always a thought in my head to get him 60-odd minutes and get him off.
“There was a good impact from James Maxwell - it’s good to see him back fit.
“It was a good impact from George Broadbent, setting up the goal.
“The subs were a real big plus for us.”
McCann admitted he was disappointed with the first half performance at Wham Stadium and was concerned there was a hangover from the the defeat at AFC Wimbledon at the weekend.
But he was delighted with the reaction from half time onwards to book a place in the second round at Peterborough United.
“It’s a good win," he said. "It’s a tough place to come - I don’t think I’ve ever won here as a manager. It’s nice to come and win.
“In the first half we didn’t perform in the way I know we can. We carried some of our performance from Saturday into the first half. We were a bit sloppy in possession and every time we lost it, Accrington broke on us.
“The goal was poor from us to concede. It almost happened in slow motion, the way they cut across us and it was a flick.
“But in the second half and all through extra time I thought we were very good. Deservedly I feel over the course of the game, we won it.”
