Brentford 0-1 Blackburn: Paul Lambert and Dean Smith reaction
Saturday 19 March 2016 21:15, UK
Blackburn boss Paul Lambert wants his side's first away win in nine Championship matches to be a springboard for the rest of the season.
Shane Duffy's 86th-minute strike, smashing into the roof of the net from 12 yards, clinched maximum points for 10-man Blackburn.
Lambert insisted the scoreline was just reward for some string performances in recent weeks.
He said: "We are playing really well at the minute and should have more points on the board. We should have got the points from previous games where we didn't.
"I thought we deserved the win and looked pretty comfortable in the game. To cap it off late on with a world-class goal like that was fantastic."
He hailed substitute Tony Watt's contribution in teeing up Duffy for the winner, and insisted he had no intention of settling for a point after skipper Grant Hanley's sending off just before the hour mark for a second bookable offence.
"I always expect us to score and Tony can sometimes make things happen out of nothing. He did that today and the boys at the back kept a clean sheet so it's a good day at a difficult place," he said.
After watching his side consign Brentford to their 10 defeat in 13 games in all competitions, Lambert issued a challenge to the club's hierarchy for the summer.
"This is a consolidation season now but it will be a big summer," he said.
"It is up to the club whether they want to go for it or keep doing this. I know from recent performances that we are a better side than where we currently sit in the league."
Rovers ruined Brentford head coach Dean Smith's birthday as his side slipped to within six points of the relegation zone with a fourth defeat on the trot.
He said: "I didn't think there was much in the game so to lose it like that so late on is hard to take. I wanted us to be hard to beat today and I thought we were for the most part.
"We didn't work the keeper enough and our decision making wasn't quite right when it mattered."
Smith defended the club's lack of transfer activity in January, but admitted there would almost certainly be new loan arrivals in the next week.
"We haven't got the number of wins we think we would have done (since January) but to blame the current situation on our transfer policy is wrong because we can't and won't overstretch ourselves," he said.
"Blackburn are a big, strong and experienced side and in a different league budget-wise to us.
"We will be looking to strengthen in wide areas and defensive midfield. Alan McCormack gave us a bit more steel but perhaps we need a little more."
