Blackburn boss Valerien Ismael was relieved to see his team “stop the bleeding” as they halted their losing run by recovering from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Sheffield Wednesday at Ewood Park.
Rovers were on course for a sixth consecutive Championship defeat at the interval following Yan Valery and Djeidi Gassama’s first-half goals.
But they fought back with Tyrhys Dolan heading home in the 51st minute and Yuki Ohashi equalising with an 85th-minute finish to claim only their second point in seven matches under Ismael.
The Frenchman said: “At half-time I said ‘we have to stay calm. We have to be on the front foot, active, and the first team scoring the next goal, and if we are doing that, it’s game on’.
“And finally, it’s happened, exactly what we expected, and we got the second goal. It’s a little step, but at the minute, we take what we can get. We stopped the bleeding first and it was a great second half.”
On an evening when fans on both sides voiced their feelings against the ownership of their clubs, there were also chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” aimed at Ismael by Blackburn supporters after Wednesday’s opener.
The second half then saw Rovers increasingly roared on during their comeback and when asked about the fans, Ismael said: “When we scored the second goal, I got really that feeling we were all back on track, at least for that moment, that everyone at the stadium, the players and we were focused on the possibility to win finally the game.
“For me, it was a great feeling to have to see this, exactly how I expected my team to play. It just gives you the confidence and confirmation that this is our way. It will be our way in the future.
“But now, until the end of the season, it will be to get positivity back on the pitch and make sure we can get some wins. The next step is to win a game.”
The result left Blackburn and Wednesday 12th and 13th respectively, both seven points outside the play-off places with five games of the regular season to go.
The match came a day on from Wednesday confirming a delay to player salary payments for March had been resolved, and boss Danny Rohl said: “The good thing is it’s sorted.
“You can believe me, it’s not easy for players not really knowing, but they’re doing well, they’re not to blame, they carry on, and I think be proud of this team.”
Wednesday also headed into the contest with Rohl being freshly linked with newly-managerless Southampton, and when asked about that he said: “For the moment, I will not speak about my future.
“There are a lot of rumours. But this is no question mark, my focus at the moment is here. If there comes a moment we can speak about my future, it’s after the season.”
