There was no movement at the bottom of the Championship table after all of the Easter Monday head-to-heads ended level, with each manager giving their thoughts afterwards
Gary Rowett during Leicester City’s 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday(Image: Mark Sutton/Getty Images)
There’s plenty more drama to come in the Championship relegation battle after a series of draws kept every side in the same position.
Billed as a decisive day as the bottom six all faced each other, draws between Blackburn and West Brom, Portsmouth and Oxford, and between Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City meant no side moved up or down.
But with one fewer game to play, that helps the sides who are currently outside of the relegation places. Here’s what City boss Gary Rowett and the other four managers had to say after their draws.
Blackburn manager Michael O’Neill
A goalless stalemate with West Brom meant Blackburn were the big winners of the Easter weekend, with four points collected in total. They’re now six points clear and edging towards safety.
O’Neill said: “(Tension) is natural at this stage of the season for the players, that we’re close to getting to a position of safety.
“But we also know that you can be only a couple of results away from being dragged back into a difficult situation. We have to keep taking points.
“I think with every game that is chalked off, we gain a little bit more security. We’ve got five games left, we know they’re difficult games and we’ve got a six-point gap at this minute in time.
“Someone beneath us is going to have to go on a decent run and we’re going to obviously have to collapse at that point. I think that we’ve got a real good togetherness in the group, a real spirit in the group.
“I think, as a group, they’ve given everything and, you know, overall, it’s been a good Easter for us.”
West Brom manager James Morrison
That draw at Ewood Park extended West Brom’s unbeaten run to six matches, and they remain four points clear of the drop zone.
Morrison said: “It keeps the momentum and we’ve seen that the results have gone for us again, so we’ve just got to keep getting the results and points on the board and keep moving forward.
“(The point) gives us that little bit of breathing space. Every point in this situation is valuable.
“We’ll keep ticking the games off, try to pick up the points, and let’s see where it takes us.”
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho
At home to Oxford and leading inside 10 minutes, Portsmouth may have been disappointed to draw. But going down to 10 men and trailing with five minutes to go, it looks like a solid point. They have a game in hand over the rest of the relegation battlers too.
Mousinho said: “It’s still extremely tight down the bottom, we wanted to win the game today and I’m not sure the draw helped either side too much.
“In the circumstances, we’ll take it, getting the equaliser. We’ve got six games left and we’ve got to pick up as many points as we can.”
City manager Gary Rowett
In failing to beat Sheffield Wednesday, City did not take advantage of the others’ draws and are arguably the biggest losers of the Easter break. But Rowett is not willing to get carried away with regrets.
Asked if the failure to win damaged City’s survival hopes, he said: “Not really. Had we won here, it’s not as though we’re then safe. It would be a psychological boost and we’d be a point outside the relegation zone. There’s a psychology to that.
“But we’re not in any worse position, it’s just another game gone where we’ve not taken our opportunities.”
Oxford manager Matt Bloomfield
Portsmouth’s late equaliser stopped Oxford from jumping out of the bottom three. They remain in 23rd, trailing City on goal difference.
Bloomfield said: “Nothing was decided (in the relegation battle) today. It’s my job now as the leader of the group to pick everybody up and make sure we get ready for the game at the weekend.
“We can’t be too down. The result is disappointing considering how close we got to the win. We still have five games to go and we’ll keep hunting.”
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