ROVERS boss Tony Mowbray is pleased to have secured “an important three points” following his side’s 3-1 win against Derby.

Ravel Morrison opened the scoring but Mowbray’s men hit back through goals from Scott Wharton and Tyrhys Dolan in quick succession.

Sam Gallagher wrapped up the result in stoppage time, heading home from Ryan Giles’ delivery.

Mowbray felt his side looked “tired and drained” in the opening 45 minutes but was pleased with the response after the break.

“I think Derby were good first half. We knew they were a possession-based team, to go to Bournemouth and have more possession is pretty telling I think,” said the Rovers chief.

“We knew how they were going to play. We didn’t really have any day preparation on the back of the previous game at the weekend, it took a lot out of the team losing a 92nd minute goal.

“I should have maybe changed six or seven players because we looked really tired and drained first half. There was a lot of fear in them and we weren’t playing as we play on the front foot.

“It was just a conversation of our expectations at half time and we got on the front foot second half. We gave Derby more problems and got the job done in the end.”

The result sees Rovers solidify their place in the top six ahead of Saturday’s trip to relegation threatened Reading.

They had scored just once in their last nine games prior to the fixture and Mowbray was delighted to see his side regain their goalscoring touch.

He added: “We need to score more goals from open play. We scored one at the end – Giles put a great cross in and Gallagher scored.

“I’m pleased for the team and pleased for the strikers. An important three points. We’ll go to Reading and see if we can make it another three on Saturday.”

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