Jon Dahl Tomasson felt Rovers were good value for the win, secured by an ‘excellent goal’, but admitted it could have been more straightforward.

Rovers held out for a 1-0 win against Blackpool, with Tyrhys Dolan’s 31st minute goal proving the difference between the sides.

The Seasiders failed to have a shot on target, but Rovers had to defend a series of late balls into the box to see hold out for a sixth clean sheet of 2023.

Tomasson felt they could have made the game safe earlier given the host of opportunities they had in the second period, but was pleased with an 11th home win of the season that moved them up to fourth in the table.

“I am pleased, another win in front of the fans,” Tomasson said.

“It was a well-deserved win a great result.

“A big praise to our players, it has been a tough schedule in the last period and we are dealing with that in a tremendous way. 

“We saw some good football today, we created opportunities.

“The only frustrating thing is not getting the second goal so we can sit more relaxed on the bench.

“We controlled the game and I think the fans enjoyed it. We have made our fans happy, it was a great atmosphere in the stadium.

“Now we have the double against Blackpool in a local derby. It has been a good night.”

Dolan finished off a fine team move, with Callum Brittain, Joe Rankin-Costello and Sorba Thomas all involved for the attacker to fire home his fifth of the season.

“It was great to see that when we work on things in training we do it in the game,” the head coach said.

“We worked on that and it was great to see. It was an excellent move. We need to create those moments.

“We controlled the game and it has been a tough schedule so a big effort from the lads. I praise them because they have done an excellent job. We saw some good football.”

Dolan scored on his fourth consecutive start, to make it five for the season, and Tomasson is pleased with his contribution.

“Tyrhys is in a good place at the moment. He is doing really well,” he said.

“He is performing at a high level and it's good that he got the goal.

“We need goals to win games. It is great to keep another clean sheet, it says something about the togetherness and we were extremely solid.

“You need goals to win games as well but it was a well-executed goal.”