Tony Mowbray remains optimistic about Ross Stewart's return despite the fact he was not available to face West Brom because he was “not ready in his mind.”
NOT READY IN HIS MIND
"If he's not ready in his mind, he's not fit, he's not ready, and we have to deal with that. We have dealt with it for the last three and a bit months, so I don't think we should be gambling with Ross Stewart if he is feeling some discomfort in the area where he has been injured. He played 60 minutes in midweek in a bounce game and he just felt a little bit delicate, I think, after that - he felt nothing during it.
PRECAUTION
"We're just taking that precaution really of not forcing him into a situation where he damages it. We'll give him as long as he needs, but hopefully that is only days rather than weeks. It was a frustrating night for us. Pritch's chance in the first half when he was through one-on-one with the goalie, if that had gone in it would have been 2-0 and it would have been a long way back for them from there.”
PROTECT SOMETHING
"We need to address the scenario where we feel that we have to protect something, because we don't help ourselves - we sat too deep, invited pressure on, when this team at this stadium needs to play on the front foot. Yet it's a human thing, really, sometimes to try and protect what you have got. Against good teams and good players, if you give them too much time on the ball they will pick the right pass more often than not, and that's what they did tonight. It's a learning curve, it's a journey for this team.”
SLAP IN THE FACE
"The frustration is that we are so close to being pretty good and then you get a slap in the face like tonight which knocks you back a bit. There will be good days around the corner, and we will learn from nights like this."
