Red cards, Garry Monk and massive fan bases: What Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray said after their thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday

The 56-year-old former Celtic manager, who watched on as his side recorded a coupon-busting win and halted a run of six matches without a win, also paid testament to the talents of Owls boss Garry Monk.

He also denied a clear view of the controversial red card to Massimo Luongo, which Monk himself conceded was not an excuse for an abject Wednesday performance.

“I said to the bench, I didn’t even see it,” he said.

“That’s not an Arsene Wenger moment, I really didn’t see it.

“We’ve had a red card or too this year, it’s frustrating at the time. If it’s harsh then, look, there’ll be another day for Sheffield Wednesday.

“They’re a massive club with a massive fanbase and they’ve got a really talented manager. They’ll do exceptionally well this year. Our challenge is to finish above them of course.”

Monk had made all three of his substitutions by the start of the second half as his side laboured to their worst home defeat for nearly two decades.

And Mowbray said that despite contrasting fortunes between the teams over the past fortnight – the home side arrived off the back of wins at Brighton and Leeds – he was confident of a positive result.

He said: “You don’t come here thinking you’re going to win 5-0 but we came here thinking we were going to win.

“We beat them at home not too long ago, we know their team we know their players.

“Modern day football means you’ve got a club full of analysts and we know all about Sheffield Wednesday.

“I understand they’ve played with 10 men for an hour but for the first 25 minutes I think we were pretty dominant. We’d scored one and threatened to score more in that time.

“Obviously them being down to 10 men helps the cause.

“When you come to a place like Hillsborough if you get the crowd wrapped up in the game you’re in trouble and we did well to keep them quiet today and got the job done.”