Blackburn Rovers boss on Hyam change and Buckley loan exit

Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson says he didn’t want to lose John Buckley on Deadline Day.

The 23-year-old midfielder joined fellow Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan, although he can be recalled in the January window.

However, Rovers did manage to bring in Semir Telalovic from Borussia Monchengladbach to bolster their strike department.

England Under-21 defender James Hill also arrived on loan from Bournemouth on Thursday night, with Sam Barnes facing another lengthy spell out of action.

“I’ve said it many times, I think we need help with bodies,” Tomasson told RoversTV. “Our CEO also said that we need experience.

“We need goalscorers and we need numbers as well, so it is good we have got a couple of numbers in. They are young players, which I like to develop.

“Of course, we didn’t succeed with the experience which you need in a competitive league. Hopefully, we have got goals but we don’t know it yet.

“I was disappointed to (lose) Buckley, I would rather have kept him.

“But as I understand it, we needed to get players out before players could come in. We all know it is a stretched squad and John is a good player.”

The club were keen to bring in a further signing before the window slammed shut but were unsuccessful in their efforts.

“I thought when John went away on loan, we would probably get one more player in,” the boss continued.

“It didn’t happen, I don’t know the reason for that. We all know that we need players in some positions and it is a tough league.”

Dom Hyam came off at half time during the 3-0 defeat at Plymouth, with Scott Wharton playing the second half.

When asked about the change, Tomasson replied: “He was not feeling that well.

“I don’t know the reason for that, it could be because it has been a very busy week with a lot of travelling and sitting on the bus with air conditioning.”

 

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The Pilgrims made it two wins out of three Championship games at Home Park this season after goals from Finn Azaz, Ryan Hardie and Luke Cundle

Here are the player ratings of Plymouth Live’s Argyle reporter Chris Errington from excellent 3-0 win against Blackburn Rovers in front of another sold-out Home Park crowd. You can give your marks too using our special widget further down this story.

Conor Hazard 7 – Can go off on international duty with Northern Ireland after a second clean sheet in the first five Championship games of the season. Hazard was commanding with crosses and anything else into his penalty area and his distribution, and understanding with his team-mates, is getting better all the time.

Joe Edwards 7 – Blackburn did much of their attacking – and there was a lot of it during the game – down their left, which meant the Argyle skipper was kept very busy, whether it was Andrew Moran or substitute Tyrhys Dolan. Edwards had some uncomfortable moments but you know he will always stick to his task and, in the end, the Pilgrims came out of it with a clean sheet.

Julio Pleguezuelo 7 – Selected instead of Dan Scarr as Argyle’s right centre-back by Steven Schumacher, in part due to the athleticism of Blackburn’s attacking players and his extra mobility. It was a first Championship start for the summer signing from Dutch top flight club FC Twente and his class stood out in defence.

Lewis Gibson 7 – Already a fixture in the Pilgrims’ back line with his no-nonsense style of defending. Gibson has the ability to play the ball out from the back when he gets the chance but if the ball needs to be cleared some distance away from goal, or a tackle has to be won, he does not hold back.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden 7 – Had a couple of uncertain moments during the game, but that was probably only noticeable because his standard for Argyle at the start of this season has been so high. The loan signing from Aston Villa made a vital block with Argyle leading 1-0 when he got in the way of a shot from Blackburn captain Lewis Travis, with the ball deflecting up onto the crossbar and not into the net.

Adam Randell 7 – Again, given the athleticism of Blackburn and their attacking threat from behind striker Sam Gallagher, Steven Schumacher went with the extra physicality of Randell ahead of Luke Cundle, who went on to make a big impact off the bench. Played on the right side of the midfield trio this time, after being on the left at Birmingham City the previous Championship match.

Jordan Houghton 7 – Proving to be very consistent at the start of the season. The return to more of a midfield holding role really seems to be suiting him and the strengths of his game. Some wondered whether he could make the step up from League One to the Championship but he has already proved his capabilities at the higher level.

Finn Azaz 7 – It was hard work at times for Argyle as Blackburn often took the game to them so Azaz probably have to do more defending than he would have wanted, rather than showing his ability on the ball going forward, but he did come up with the first goal in the 27th minute with a deflected shot from outside the Blackburn box which wrongfooted goalkeeper Aynsley Pears.

Morgan Whittaker 7 – Has not scored since the season-opening 3-1 win against Huddersfield Town but he is consistently getting into good shooting positions and it is only a matter of time before the ball flies in the net for him again. Had a couple of attempts well blocked by Blackburn during this game, while Aynsley Pears made two smart saves as well. One of them came after a brilliant nutmeg by Whittaker close to the bye-line during the first half.

Ryan Hardie 8 STAR MAN – Arguably playing as well as he has ever done for Argyle, given the standard he is now at in the Championship. It is not just that he has scored four goals in the first give games this season – and that is praiseworthy enough – but it is the fact he is making life so uncomfortable for quality defenders with his determination and strong running. His finish to put the Pilgrims 2-0 up in the 77th minute was a real goal poacher’s effort after Aynsley Pears could only parry away a shot.

Bali Mumba 7 – Another all-action performance from the 21-year-old, who had a first half header at the far post saved by Aynsley Pears after a good cross from Ryan Hardie. Mumba later provided an excellent delivery from which Hardie headed narrowly wide when the score was still 1-0. Had a couple of difficult moments defensively in the second period which led to him being replaced in the 70th minute.

SUBSTITUTES

Callum Wright 7 – Took over from Adam Randell in the 61st minute and was involved in the lead up to Argyle’s important second goal. His fierce strike could not be held by Aynsley Pears and Ryan Hardie pounced on the rebound to slot home from close range.

Luke Cundle 7 – The 21-year-old midfielder wants to add more goals and assists to his game during his season-long loan from Wolves and has made a good start in achieving that aim, first with a superb curling shot in the Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace and then with a deft lob over the Blackburn goalkeeper when he was caught outside his penalty area in the 81st minute. That made sure of the win for Argyle.

Mickel Miller 7 – Played with good energy and attacking intent, while helping out defensively too, after being sent on for Bali Mumba in the 70th minute. One excellent driven low cross was just out of the reach of Ryan Hardie otherwise it would have been a certain goal.

Dan Scarr – Replaced Joe Edwards in the 82nd minute as Argyle switched to a back three for the closing stages of the game, with Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Mickel Miller operating as the wing-backs.

Ben Waine – Such is in fine form of Ryan Hardie that the New Zealand international striker has to be content for now with making appearances in the Championship off the bench, as he did in this match in the 82nd minute.

Substitutes (not used): Callum Burton, Matt Butcher, Lewis Warrington, Tyreik Wright.