McCarthy: Deserved Winners of Tough Game Tuesday, 15th Mar 2016 22:55 Boss Mick McCarthy says the Blues ultimately ran out deserved victors after a “tough, hard-fought” game against Blackburn Rovers, Daryl Murphy netting two second-half goals, the first from the penalty spot. “It was just a great victory, a tough, hard-fought game,” McCarthy said. “I thought they had the better of the start but that we got into the game and we ran out deserved winners. “It took a penalty to change the course of it. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t really comment, but I think [Blackburn manager] Paul [Lambert’s] said it was a penalty and they’ve no arguments about it. “It was just a tough game. The first half was really hard. But we’ve just had to stick with it, we’ve been here before, stick with the game, don’t concede and we’ll always get a chance.” Regarding goalscorer Murphy, who was celebrating his 33rd birthday, he added: “It’s a great birthday. He’s had it tough this year, he’s had knocks and niggles, and I thought his performance tonight was excellent. The penalty, you’ve got to score it, but I thought his second goal was outstanding. “I think if you play well and you’re a pest and you upset defenders, you’ll get goals. If you’re concentrating on scoring goals but not doing all the other stuff first, you don’t get the chances. And I think he’s been a real threat over the last two or three games, back to it.” The Town boss, who was suffering with a heavy cold, also had praise for Luke Varney, who created the second goal. “I am [pleased with him] but not just tonight,” he continued. “I’ve been delighted with him since he walked through the door. “He’s a wonderful pro, he’s been brilliant to have around from the moment he walked him he’s just been outstanding. “He’s had a snapped achilles and he’s a model pro, he’s an example to anybody who wants to get back from an injury. He’s been great, and that’s off the pitch, and tonight he’s really contributed.” McCarthy said it was important to win the early battles in what was never a pretty game. “I heard the ironic cheers when all the headers were going on in the first 10 minutes, but I tell you, if you lose that scrap in the Championship you lose the game,” he said. “So, when it’s being headed and thumped and kicked and scrapped, if you lose it, if they do it better than you, you’ve got a really good chance of being beaten. And we didn’t get beaten.” He added: “It’s never going to be less of a scrap because there’s pressure at one end for points to be gained and pressure at the other end for points to be gained.
“As we all know, I suppose for you when you’ve got a deadline, when you’ve got 30 minutes to to write 2,000 words or something, the old arse is twitching, isn’t it? It’s not as easy. “That’s like it for us and it’s the same in every walk of life. We all have the things that cause you a bit of angst and you don’t perform as well. But it doesn’t really matter at this stage, it’s about winning the game.” The win moves the Blues up to eighth, one point off the play-offs with nine left to play with Rotherham the visitors to Portman Road on Saturday. “We’ve never been that far away,” McCarthy said. “It’s three points, it’s put us on the back of the top six.
“We’ve got a home game on Saturday, but equally it will be another tough game against Warny’s [Neil Warnock’s] team who are scrapping to stay in the league, and they’ve just had three or four terrific results. Anyway, we’ll enjoy tonight and worry about that on Thursday.” Blackburn manager Paul Lambert was disappointed with his side's performance having made five changes to his team. “Rotten that was, from our point of view," he said. "I’m disappointed because we’ve been playing really well of late. “I changed the team because that was our 10th game in 31 days and we’ve still got one more to go on Saturday. “I changed it because lads were running on empty, but I still expect a lot better than that. “I thought it was a nothing game, it wasn’t great viewing. We had a lot of fans come down and they expect better in the second half, to try and get a goal back. “It was a penalty, I’ve got no complaints about the penalty because I think it’s a stonewaller, but from there I expect better to try and get back into the game.”
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