Tony Mowbray happy as Blackburn find a way to win against Preston

Tony Mowbray praised Blackburn’s ability to “win ugly” after they edged a 1-0 win over local rivals Preston.

The pouring rain and swirling wind made for atrocious conditions, particularly in the first half, meaning that passing football was at a premium because of the surface water on the pitch.

But Rovers fashioned the one moment of real quality and with it, the three points, through Ben Brereton Diaz’s sublime header early in the second half for his 17th goal of the season.

Rovers battled fiercely, roared on by a vocal crowd, to close out a third successive win and three clean sheets on the bounce for the first time since October 2020.

Blackburn sit fourth after their first Ewood Park win over Preston in 20 years, manager Mowbray was delighted that his team were able to manage the conditions.

He said: “We had to manage the conditions. This week we had to manage a pitch where the ball going to stick sometimes, so be careful what you do and how you pass it.

“The difficulty is preparing the football match and half an hour before kick-off you have to scrap everything and tell them to put it behind their full-backs and Brereton and (Reda) Khadra have to run after it, as basic as that really.

“Don’t take chances at the back, win your headers, defend properly, do your job, be strong, and I though they did that today, particularly the back three were resilient, strong, powerful. It was probably more suited to them and yet we’ve managed to find the way to get the win in what was a physical confrontation really.

“It’s good to win ugly. There was no real pattern to it, other than to help it forward and let the conditions dictate the game. You know they’ve got character, commitment and togetherness.”

The Lilywhites did not create a great deal but did not do a lot wrong either and had the better of the opening period.

But they have lost their third game in five and Frankie McAvoy said the winner was a “cheap” goal to concede.

He said: “I thought that was a bit of quality in the game, (it) went against us. I didn’t think there was much in the game at all between the two teams.

“I think we probably had more of the ball and more of the chances. They might have had one or two more on target than we had.

“We get an opportunity with Alan Browne bursting through in the first half, which was a great ball from Ched (Evans) to penetrate in behind, and I think the water holds the ball up.

“The one bit of quality that happens in the second half, it’s too cheap to allow the cross into the box and we actually spoke about making sure you don’t allow (Ben Brereton) Diaz or anybody to get across in front of you for a header.”