John Eustace was disappointed with the manner of the goals Blackburn Rovers conceded after their defeats to FC Nurnberg.
Rovers rounded off their pre-season training in Austria with back-to-back 2-1 defeat on Saturday. Eustace played two entirely different XIs in the 60-minute matches after a tough week in the heat.
On both occasions, Rovers found themselves 2-0 down before rallying to pull a goal back. They fell behind after a couple of minutes in the first game, with Danilo Soares smashing one into the top corner.
The frustration for Eustace was that he was left unmarked on the edge of the box, though the finish was spectacular.
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The other goals were transitional moments after the ball had turned over, with the last a routine ball over the top which caused panic in the defence.
Eustace conceded that Rovers were probably behind the schedule of their opponents but praised the work rate of the group during their week away.
“I thought it was a really tough game,” the Rovers head coach told RoversTV.
“You can see that they’re a couple of weeks ahead of us in their pre-season programme and they played some good stuff.
“I was pleased with the way the lads kept at it. We scored a couple of goals and most importantly it was another good fitness exercise. We got some really good fitness in and that was pleasing.
“We’ve had a really tough week. The lads have worked their socks off. It was very, very hot for them as well.
“We didn’t start the game how I would have wanted to start and conceded a very sloppy goal in the first couple of minutes, which isn’t like us. That’s not the way we work.
“But pre-season is about getting your fitness, learning from your mistakes, trying different systems and different personnel, so overall it’s been a really good week."
Rovers' 29-man squad was bulked up by lots of Academy graduates and hopefuls, who are trying to make an impression during pre-season. For many of them, it will be their first senior camp overseas.
The team flew back to the UK on Sunday with preparations set to step up this week ahead of 90-minute matches against Morecambe and Wigan Athletic.
Rovers are likely to keep the same split teams, with the younger group playing on Friday night and the senior squad on Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve had good team bonding, the 11 young lads who came away on the trip have all done very well," Eustace added.
“On the back of three weeks of really hard pre-season, I think everyone is delighted to get through it injury-free and looking forward now to getting back to Blackburn.”
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