Here is Tony Mowbray's initial reaction to Ross Stewart's return, Elliot Embleton's red card/injury and the overall performance in our draw against Hull City...
FIRST HALF
"I thought we were controlling the first half. I thought we came here and controlled the game which is what we tried to do. Since Liam (Rosenior) came in they've became a possession-based game and their shots on goal and everything have gone up hugely. We knew it was gonna be a difficult game but we wanted to come here and try and dominate. Without being overly dominant we controlled the game in the first half, without creating lots of chances. We had a few - Ellis went through and blazed one over the bar. Probably around the box not enough goal threat."
SECOND HALF
In the second half the big incident was the sending off which changed the game. I think we have to give them credit. There was a missed penalty in there, Danny Ballard obviously in his first game back it was a big ask for him to play so long, and yet that was a decision we made. I knew Aji was struggling in there a bit and I wanted to save Dennis for later because I thought Aji wouldn't make the game.We sacrificed the ball when we were down to ten men and obviously scored a great goal on the break. A great ball from Patrick and a great finish from Ross. Unfortunately for us we couldn't see it out. They put a lot of balls into the box and we had to defend very resolutely. Disappointing to concede the goal but I think in the circumstances of today, we should take the point, put it in the bag and move on to the next game."
STEWART
"It's a brilliant finish. Pritch had a similar one midweek to put us 2-0 up. The goalie thinks you're going to lob it over him and it was a brilliant finish from Ross because he actually stabs it into the ground and under the jumping goalie really and into the empty net. It was a great finish and great composure. As I've seen in the last few weeks when he's been trying to get back, and had a few little niggles on his journey back, he looks a really composed, calm footballer. Obviously he's got the physical presence, and the composure to finish like he did today. I hope the travelling support aren't too disappointed. We'll put the point in the bag. They saw a team that hopefully that fought really hard with ten men. It's a point away from home. We need to get our home form better ultimately, starting on Boxing Day. If we can sort the home form out then it's never a bad result to go away from home and get a point. If you can get three at home and one away you're going to do okay."
EMBO
"He's in hospital at the moment, it's not very good I would suggest. I don't want to make comments without knowing exactly what it is. We'll let you know during the week, but the club doctor is here today and thought it was serious enough to put him in an ambulance and take him to hospital. So Elliot was in a lot of discomfort. I have watched the incident back several times and it seems a very harsh decision by the referee. i think he'll be disappointed when he sees it back. Sometimes referees are a bit deluded and they know why they give a decision and they'll back it up with thinking it was the right decision. I've watched it back and there's no real serious danger. If anything, Elliot catches the box with his knee and his arm as the boy is jumping at the same time. He does flick his foot out as he's falling backwards. I don't know if the ref thought he'd caught him but he definitely didn't catch him, as the super slow-mo shows. I think he'll be disappointed with his decision which didn't help our team of course, and great credit to the ten players who were on the pitch and able to see the game out."
ONTO BLACKBURN
"I'm not sure there's much rest to be honest, it's preparation really. We're going to try and put another bounce game on during the week so Ross Stewart and Danny Ballard can get some sharpness. Because they played so long today, we might leave them out and get their fitness through the training. But the plan was to keep going and keep getting the lads who are sitting on the bench and not getting many minutes fit, because they'll be needed. Incidents like this show you how quickly a situation can arise. you get players back fit and lose others, so all the lads who haven't played as many minutes as they would have liked, they have to stay fit and ready for when their chance comes."
