Interviews

Dara O’Shea on ‘disappointing’ Blackburn defeat

Dara O'Shea thanks the Albion supporters at Blackburn

Dara O’Shea says Albion's squad were frustrated to leave the Ewood Park pitch empty handed following their 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon.

Goals either side of half time by Ben Brereton Diaz and Sam Gallagher consigned Steve Bruce’s men to their first loss of the season, with Grady Diangana’s deflected second period strike - and a barrage of Baggies pressure - not enough to earn the visitors anything in Lancashire.

Despite the result, Dara feels his team did enough to get something from the game and hopes they can take the positives into a Sky Bet Championship double header at The Hawthorns against Cardiff City and Hull City this coming week.

“I don’t think we deserved to lose it, but I probably don’t think we deserved to win it either,” said O’Shea.

“They only really had two shots, which they scored, against the run of play – but that’s the Championship.

“We knew before the game that they were good on the counter, and they got us on the counter twice. We were sloppy. We had a few chances which we should have scored, as well.

“The pressure was there. We always look a threat when we get the ball out wide. We get it to Jed (Wallace), Grady (Diangana) and Swifty (John Swift) and let them do their thing.

“Obviously we were unlucky to only score one. We had lots of chances. It’s just disappointing to come away from that one with a loss.

“Wednesday is another big game. That’s a good thing about the Championship, the games come quick and fast. We can put things right almost straight away, which is good. We just need to rest, recover and go into the next one with confidence.”

The Irishman also reflected on his relationship with fellow central defender Semi Ajayi. The pair have started all three league games so far this campaign, and O’Shea believes the partnership will grow the more they play together.

“I get on really well with Semi off the pitch, and I think on the pitch it works,” added Dara. “We both get each other, we understand each other’s games, and we bounce off each other well.

“We want to keep clean sheets and we haven’t done that in the league yet, which is disappointing because I feel like we’ve deserved one.

“But if we keep building those relationships as a back four, with David Button as well, then we’ll earn clean sheets and get more points on the board.”