00:00Rob, thank you for joining us. It's another point on the board ultimately. Can I get your
00:04thoughts on the game first?
00:06It's a point gained, isn't it? I think it was probably the effects of the last few games,
00:12the physicality and obviously everything tonight. We tried to freshen the team up as much as
00:17possible to give ourselves the best energy. Probably seven or eight lads are carrying
00:21knocks and whatnot. I thought the application, the mentality was terrific. The lads were
00:27dead on their feet out there. We're going with a better team, there's no doubt about
00:31that. I love the mentality of the lads to stay in the game, despite the fact that we
00:36didn't get the play right. We didn't threaten them as much as we could, although we had
00:39good chances at times. To be able to stay resolute, defend the set-pieces, defend the
00:45onslaught and dig in for each other, I was really proud of the lads for that. I'd definitely
00:51say it's a point gained. We want to win every game, especially at home. You've got to take
00:56the positives in scenarios like this, but we need to make sure we reset for Saturday
01:01because it's been a tough run. Obviously, the Saturday-Tuesday is difficult. Liam coming
01:06in hasn't had loads of information. I thought he was exceptional in terms of his running
01:09and some of his play. We've just got to look at the positives going forward and take the
01:14point and move on.
01:15Yes, take the positives defensively. Although we conceded one goal, there was a lot of good
01:20defensive actions in there. I don't think you'll have to practice defending corners
01:23any time soon, 17 of them. Faced this evening, it's the most we've certainly had in a while.
01:29We've looked to have taken the attacking positives out of the last few home games, but is tonight
01:33one where we'll look to take the defensive ones mostly?
01:35Yes, I think so. Obviously, you want to come away with a clean sheet. I think, ultimately,
01:41they're very good wingers. We didn't get the press right, so they were getting to wide
01:46areas too early, but I thought Charlie and Harry defended well. A lot of the crosses
01:49were stopped at the source, hence why the corners come. We did get overloaded. We defended
01:53the box well. You've got Charlie, Ben Radcliffe, Dion, Harry were exceptional. Harry's been
01:59fantastic the last few games. There's things we could have done better. The frustration
02:07for me was that they're a good team and have good patterns and they do get out, but we
02:11made it a bit too easy for them. Secondly, on transition, when we were having the moments,
02:15especially in that second half period for 10, 15 minutes, where we looked like we were
02:18getting on top and getting back into our rhythm, we weren't as aggressive in terms of the lock-up
02:22and stepping on them to allow the second, third, fourth phases of attack. It's a learning
02:28curve, but ultimately, I think the one thing now you can't question with this group is
02:33they put their bodies there. Everything on the line, they run themselves into the ground
02:37and, like you said, they've earned a point from that, as much as we'd like it to be free.
02:42I think, just being brutally honest, maybe a couple of months ago that isn't the point,
02:46so take the positives and move on.
02:48Do you think, on reflection, having seen now the last three games, five points is probably
02:55actually quite a good return, isn't it? As you say, we're always going to want to win
02:58every game, but ultimately, as long as we're not losing matches and we're staying in the
03:02fight, that is what we need to do.
03:03Yes, I think it shows that these players and the group, they're here for the fight, they
03:09want to affect it. They want to fight for every moment and even when things aren't going
03:14so well for us, even when they score, we come back. Charlie scored a fantastic goal.
03:17I don't know what's going on at the moment with the goals we're scoring, but it's a fantastic
03:22goal from Charlie. Rushy, exceptional again down the outside. I think, even then, the
03:29mentality to not be playing well but still get something from the game, get something
03:32within the moment where we could have crumbled, was excellent. Playing against a massive club,
03:39good team, very good manager. I thought ultimately the defensive stuff was the fact that we stuck
03:47to it and never threw in the towel. The lads who come on, I thought they did have an impact
03:51in terms of going forward, but they also had to do the work and carry on the work from
03:54the other lads, which they did.
03:56Yes, the lads, I think, as you've already touched on, naturally will be struggling with
04:01the amount of games that we've had. We've now been dealt the card of, after three nice
04:06home games in a row, we've got our longest trip of the season away at Blackpool on Saturday.
04:10Is there a tricky decision to be made during the week now of how you let the lads recover?
04:15Because I'm sure you'd want them in to make sure they're doing their bits, but equally
04:19we've got the longest trip at the weekend, so what's the full process that has to go
04:23beyond that?
04:24It's just full recovery now. It's full recovery for two days and then it'll be complete prep
04:30for a day and a half, really. Because ultimately, when the body gets tired, the mind gets tired,
04:36so we need to be as refreshed as possible. We have to assess a few lads as well after
04:40tonight because I think a few were just redlining and getting towards the edge of injury, so
04:45we need to make sure that the selection for the squad and the team for Saturday is something
04:48that we consider in terms of everything, really. We're at the stage where we want to win every
04:54game, but we also need to make sure we have the players on the pitch to win every game.
05:00I think it's a breather for us as a group for a couple of days to reset, refresh, let
05:07the lads get away for a couple of days and just have that mindset, and then come back
05:12in in a day and a half and ready to go, and then ready for a long trip and recover whilst
05:17we prep. I'm really proud of the lads, especially the last three games. I'm proud of the group
05:21and proud of how they react to things. I thought, yet again, just the support at the end of
05:28the game being clapped off, and I think everyone could see that it wasn't the cleanest, it
05:33wasn't our best performance by a mile, but I think it showed the grit and determination
05:37and the fact that everyone's playing for the badge, playing for the club, and wanting to
05:41give ourselves the best opportunity possible.
05:50It must be quite tough because he hasn't played a lot of football at all in the last year,
05:54I believe. How much does it take to come on and play like he did tonight?
05:58I don't know how to say this, he's an animal really. Physically and mentally he's a monster.
06:03He came in, he wanted to play within the first day, so we had to calm him down a little bit.
06:08I think it's going to take him a while to get the concepts and stuff, because that's
06:12something that we've developed over a few months and years. He's obviously coming in,
06:16but he's took it on straight away. He's an international, he's a top footballer, so he's
06:19intelligent. He's shown some real technical ability. I think he's added to our repertoire
06:23in terms of the longer passing, and I think the more he settles, the better he'll be.
06:27What I like about Liam is I think he can add to us in an attacking sense. Obviously with
06:31Brad being missing at the moment, he's probably dropped back into the number four role to
06:35help us out, which is obviously probably the toughest one to play. But I thought he did
06:39exceptionally well, and I thought physically he'd give us a bit of a bite in the tackle
06:42and the running. He's an absolute ally, as I said before, he's a monster in terms of
06:47how he's running. So I'm really pleased with him. He's a really level-headed lad, he's
06:50really firm. He's here to keep the club up, he's here to do well, and he's here to help
06:59us. I love the buy-in from him straight away, and I think he's improved the squad. Hopefully
07:05we'll see him keep improving us and keep getting better.
07:07And Kamari Lloyd played out on the wing this time. What do you think his best position
07:13is, because we've seen him in the centre of midfield and on the wing now?
07:17Yeah, I think Kami affects the game anywhere. I thought he was good wide. I don't think
07:21we got him the service that we probably wanted to, and I like the idea of him wide coming
07:24inside. Swanee's been exceptional out there, to be honest with you, but obviously he's
07:28struggling with a couple of things. He's only limited, unfortunately, similar with June.
07:32So we're just having to balance numbers and squads and players. But I like Kami in the
07:39middle of the pitch. When he comes into the middle of the pitch, I think things happen.
07:44It just sort of always comes to personnel, really. Kami's so adaptable, he's both-footed,
07:47he's energetic, he's young, he's exciting. So he's someone that you want in areas where
07:53he can affect the game, where we feel that he can affect the game. We did feel in the
07:57wide areas he'd affect it. We probably weren't at our best today, let's be honest with you.
08:01We struggled today. We struggled in possession, but I still think that we showed enough to
08:08be at our worst and still get a point and continue a run and be unbeaten. I think ultimately
08:15there's a lot of things we could've all done better, myself definitely included, but there's
08:22a lot of things the lads did well. I think they ground it out when we got it wrong. Tactically
08:25if I got anything wrong, they smoothed it out by running and working hard. I'm really
08:30pleased and proud of them for that.
08:31And finally, you just referred to earlier about what's happening with the goalscoring.
08:35Is there a magnet in the top corner at the moment?
08:38I don't know. I think to be honest with you, we've had such bad luck. I say bad luck, but
08:43we've had so many poor decisions and opportunities hitting the post, getting blocked. I think
08:50over the course since we've been here, the Reading game for example, you go back there
08:53and how we only scored one goal was scary. So I think we're probably getting the rewards
08:57for consistency. It's nice to see such brilliant goals and it's nice the lads have the confidence
09:03to attack it in that way. I'm pleased for Charlie because he's everything you want in
09:10a footballer and a person, considering where he's come from to where he's been and the
09:14amount of games he's had to play. Charlie, every week we think he's going to break down
09:18and we're going to have to take him out, but he just keeps going and keeps going and keeps
09:20going. We have to put him against their best players every time, but he still does it regardless
09:25of outcome. So I'm really pleased for him. He deserved that moment. Hopefully we can
09:30keep scoring the goals and attaining them.
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