Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray heaped praise on Swansea City's Jurgen Klopp-inspired high press under Vitor Matos after a 4-0 defeat, backing Swansea City for Championship promotion

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has declared Swansea City as genuine promotion contenders this season, while also noting the clear imprint of Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool philosophy on head coach Vitor Matos.

Following a woeful 5-0 thrashing at Queens Park Rangers, the Swans responded emphatically by dismantling Mowbray's Rovers at the Swansea.com Stadium, with Stephen Eustaquio, Joseph Opoku, Filip Lissah and Ross Stewart all finding the net in a commanding 4-0 triumph.

Mowbray raised little argument with the outcome, conceding that his side had played directly into Swansea's pressing game under the ex-Liverpool coach.

"We got it wrong and suffered for it against a very good team," he said. "My frustration comes from preparing for a week to play the number one team in the league for high pressing and then not carrying out what we'd worked on.

"We shouldn't have been trying to play nice football around our box against a high press team. Maybe my messages to the players weren't strong enough.", reports Wales Online.

Mowbray expressed his admiration for Swansea's "amazingly good" intensity, revealing it brought back memories of previous encounters with Klopp's Liverpool side.

Matos spent five years on the coaching staff at Anfield under Klopp, and the Rovers chief believes the German tactician's methods have left a profound mark on Swansea's current approach. "My previous Blackburn team, particularly through Covid, played Liverpool quite a little bit," Mowbray added.

"We weren't in the Premier League but we played Liverpool in Covid just to get their team up to speed, we played them twice I think at Anfield and once at Ewood Park.

"Liverpool of those days were absolutely amazing because they didn't let you breathe, and you can see bits of that with this [Swansea] team. There seemed to be three men closing every one of our players down."

Swansea's victory maintains their strong position near the summit of the Championship, with Mowbray convinced the Swans possess the credentials to mount a serious promotion bid this campaign.

Nevertheless, he cautioned that their approach might not consistently deliver positive outcomes, suggesting Swansea could encounter difficulties against sides opting for a more direct strategy.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied when questioned whether Swansea have the necessary qualities to compete for promotion.

"I think when you play against the best teams, the coaches will know that you're number one at high pressing, know you're going to swarm all over the ball and the pitch," he explained regarding Swansea's tactical blueprint.

"[They will] just not take risks, just turn you around and let you swarm over nothing because there's nobody trying to pass it out from the back.

"They'll be kicking every goal-kick long. They'll be playing a big centre-forward and trying to get two little fast guys running in behind."

He went on to say: "It's great coaching, it's great philosophy, but I'm saying there are coaches in this league who'll be watching.

"We're only 13 games in, [Matos] has got a lot of football still to play and there'll be a lot of teams where they won't be able to [do that] because there'll be nothing to press."