Tony Mowbray felt Blackburn deservedly defeated “dangerous” Barnsley 2-1 to guarantee an unbeaten November and keep up the pressure on the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
In a game where there was little to separate the sides, Blackburn’s superior finishing saw them through.
Adam Armstrong put Rovers ahead in the 44th minute against his former side with a confident close-range finish – his 14th strike this term in all competitions.
The game then looked done and dusted in the 78th minute when Sam Gallagher slammed home a half-volley from the edge of the area.
But Romal Palmer struck in the 90th minute – a goal the visitors deserved – to ensure a nervy end to the game.
Rovers held on despite the pressure to secure their third victory in the last four games and, after climbing to ninth place, two points adrift of the play-offs, Mowbray was pleased.
He said: “It was a dangerous game wasn’t it? I said it at half-time, the game panned out as I thought. Their front three are a pressing machine and you can’t get past them, unless you decide not to play and boot it to the front.
“We had Armstrong, (Harvey) Elliott and (Ben) Brereton. None are what you’d call dominant aerially. We found it hard to get beyond their front line and their wing-backs jump out as well.
“Credit to them, they made life difficult for us. It’s Championship football. You either decide you are going to scrap everything for this game and play a different way or try and move the ball quick enough to give them problems.
“It was a tough game as I expected. They have young, athletic, motivated footballers, but we found a way to win and I think ultimately we deserved to win.
“I was disappointed with the goal we lost at the end which made the last couple of minutes a bit chaotic.”
Barnsley fall two places to 16th despite a performance of real energy and intent.
They have only won once on the road this season, and although boss Valerien Ismael believes the performance can be built upon, he called for a “killer mentality” from his side.
He said: “The performance was exactly what we wanted. Intensity, aggressiveness, win the ball first time deep and try to finish quickly.
“But you lose the game with 23 attempts, 11 corners, and we scored once. It’s not enough. We have to learn the killer mentality.
“In such a game when you are good in shape, you have to punish your opponent, you have to score, and have more confidence for the game.
“It’s always the same in football, if you don’t score, the opponent can come one time and score the goal. It was very frustrating at half-time.
“The first thing we have to learn from this game is the killer mentality. When you are very good in shape, when the set-pieces today were perfect, you have to score.
“This is the Championship, this is the quality. We can build off this performance for sure. We have consistency in our performance. But you need a result, you need a reward.”
