John Eustace maintains that Blackburn Rovers are not taking anything for granted in their fight to stay in the league.
Rovers’ lead over the bottom three has narrowed to four points despite a respectable point they earned on Saturday against Norwich City. This was because to the improbable situation in which Huddersfield Town, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, and Sheffield Wednesday all triumphed.
Even though Rovers have five teams separating them from the bottom three, a four-point deficit isn’t much in front of a stretch of games that are very important, especially when you take into account how quickly other clubs are accruing points.
Eustace again reiterated that patience is needed at Rovers and the focus is on collecting as many points as quickly as possible.
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“I think we can improve all-round,” Eustace said.
“We are more difficult to play against. We’re more competitive. I’m delighted with the way we have defended set-pieces in the last couple of games.
“We have to improve in all areas but it will take time. The most important thing is we get to 45/50 points as quickly as possible to stay in this league.
“We can then see where that takes us. The Championship is relentless, everyone can beat each other. It’s very important you don’t get too worried about the highs or the lows. We’re focusing on ourselves.
“I thought in the first half we created some very good chances, against a good team. The game then opened up in the second half.
“We limited Norwich to very few chances. Although we came in 1-0 down, I felt they had the free-kick and not many other opportunities.
“We had some of the very best opportunities. Possibly we could have been better but I was pleased with the first-half performance and then we showed great character, second from a set-piece.
“It’s about small steps, learning from each other. Showing that commitment and desire.”
Ryan Hedges came off with an early injury on Saturday. Eustace was unable to provide much of an update on the Welshman.
“It is a concern,” he admitted. “We rested him on Tuesday, he’s a very important player. We will assess that.”
