Stoke boss explains what Blackburn Rovers did to anger crowd

Stoke City manager Mark Robins <i>(Image: CameraSport - Lee Parker)</i>
Stoke City manager Mark Robins (Image: CameraSport - Lee Parker)
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Stoke City boss Mark Robins was frustrated not to take all three points against Blackburn Rovers at the bet365 Stadium.

Robins admitted that some “anxiety” crept into the performance in the first half after Adam Forshaw’s opener.

“The conditions were really difficult,” he said after the final whistle. “Michael, I said yesterday, we spoke about them sitting in.

“He knows which buttons to push and he was pushing loads of them. It starts off when the supporters get sort of a little bit anxious, angry, annoyed, wanting to do things. 

“That can sort of set into making rubbish decisions where you just smash the ball forward without any control, which is anxiety.

“Then it ends up being a really poor performance on the back of it because everything gets away from you. That's why I say it has to be together, everything has to work together. If it doesn't, then things fall apart.”

But Robins was pleased with the reaction after the break and insisted that Sam Gallagher should have done better with his chance, which forced Balazs Toth into another crucial save.

“We didn't get a grip of the game until they scored and it was a rubbish goal for us to concede,” he added. “But from that point on, I thought we got on the ball. They sat deep.

“We tried to break them down, we found it a little bit difficult to do. They were playing on scraps, counter-attacks, turnovers and what have you.

“In these moments, it's really difficult because that wind's blowing everywhere. You're trying to move it and move yourself to create opportunities in an environment that becomes difficult, or can become difficult.

“I've got to give the players a load of credit for that because that isn't easy to do, but that was the message - just keep doing that because you'll get something on the back of it, and we did. 

“We got down the side of them and Millie put some good ball in and Jes is in the centre of the goal to stick it in the net.

“Before that, we had an open goal. Gally has to finish that. The goalkeeper, you say, makes a good save. He doesn't know a thing about it, we have to score that. 

“You look at three chances - and that's just three chances, there were others in there that we could have gone and scored. I remember one shot on target from them, really, and it ends up in the back of your net. That's the disappointment.”

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