00:00We're going to split this into two sorted questions on this evening's game
00:03and then we'll have an embargoed section for our next match at Burnley.
00:06We'll start with Luke, please.
00:08A bit of a better performance in the second half,
00:11but it is another way to defeat your Achilles' heel long season.
00:16Yeah, a difficult one for us again to work out really,
00:24because I thought there was a real opportunity for us tonight,
00:27especially in that first half, to grab the game.
00:29Especially in midfield, I just felt we turned the ball over far too much
00:34in that first period to gain the control that we wanted.
00:36We made it a transitional game for us, which as the away team you never want.
00:41Second half was much better, controlled the game much better with the ball.
00:45Build-up was really good and then just our chance creation was...
00:49I think we created chances, we didn't create outstanding chances
00:54and the type of chances you need to score, so we're desperately disappointed.
00:58I think there's only seven goals, isn't it, away from home,
01:00and four of those came in.
01:01One match, you don't have to be a genius to work out where the problems are.
01:06Yeah, I think that's been clear.
01:08Away from home, we haven't done well enough in front of goal.
01:13I mean, that's obvious, some of the games we've been really flat in front of goal.
01:17I think our general performances have been steadily improving,
01:19but the feeling that you're going to score at any time or you can score at any time
01:24or that you've got goals in your team away from home is such a powerful confidence lifter for the team,
01:28and we haven't had that enough, and ultimately that's what's cost us tonight.
01:32George?
01:34I mean, do you feel like you should have got something out of that game?
01:38I mean, having away games this season where this felt a bit different, didn't it?
01:44Yeah, I think that you could make an argument that we should have got something from today,
01:47but ultimately we haven't, and we've had that feeling too many times on the road this year.
01:53As I said a second ago, I feel genuinely our performances have been better
01:56since the last international break, bar one big blip.
02:00I thought today was another step forward in terms of performance,
02:04but no-one really wants to hear that, no-one really wants to sort of analyse that too deeply
02:08because ultimately the result is the most important thing,
02:11and we're well aware of that, of the world that we live in.
02:16So the chance creation aspect, the ability to keep clean sheets,
02:20all these things are absolutely crucial away from home,
02:22and we haven't done either well enough.
02:23Lewis was exceptional tonight, it seems very harsh that he was not in that.
02:29Yeah, really good to see Lewis return to the form that he had pre-injury.
02:33Yeah, he was very, very good technically today.
02:36I thought him and Anthony down the left-hand side played really well today.
02:39Together with Louis Miley on the opposite side, who, again, I thought was outstanding.
02:42Probably our three strongest players.
02:44But ultimately we're a team, of course,
02:48and the team hasn't functioned well enough to win the game.
02:50OK, Lee Ryder, John and Cronin.
02:52Any event in the game, I looked around with some of the players on the knees,
02:56if they've given everything, but I'm going to have to ask them for more,
03:00ask them for something different in the next game, is that going to be a tough ask?
03:05Does it look like they're giving everything all there?
03:08Yeah, very rarely.
03:10I mean, there's been a couple of games where I've questioned our attitude,
03:13but very rarely as a group the last four years have I gone away and thought,
03:17the players haven't wanted to win or tried to win or given everything to try and win.
03:21These are key characteristics you need in any team.
03:24And I think when you're in my position, the last thing you want to do is question
03:28whether the players are giving you all that they have.
03:32And I think you could see today, I thought we came with the right attitude,
03:35the right mentality, the right motivation.
03:38But ultimately, we're slightly a team that's lacking in confidence, I feel,
03:42the ultimate confidence that you need to win.
03:45Because I think the quality of player is there,
03:47and you could see that in the second half.
03:49But we're finding a way to concede goals when we don't look like we should,
03:53and we're not scoring the goals that we should at the other end.
03:55So it's sort of a deadly mix for us.
03:58But generally, when you take a step back,
04:01you see a team that is performing much better than it was early season.
04:04I think we're closer than we have been to finding the consistency that we crave
04:10and that we want.
04:11And I think this is the bit where we have to be really strong.
04:14And I'm talking we, I'm talking me and the coaching team.
04:16Because I think we're close.
04:18How do you recover that confidence?
04:20Because it's a strange thing, isn't it?
04:22It is.
04:23I think the only thing that truly rediscovers it,
04:25you can talk and you can train, but I think it's winning games.
04:29It's getting over the line more times than you feel the opposite feeling.
04:36Because even games we've won, we've gone away with a bit of a hollow feeling,
04:39where we've conceded late, or something's happened in the game
04:41where we haven't had that buzz and that warm feeling that you get from winning.
04:45So we've been challenged on various fronts,
04:48but I think this is a team that has got real quality,
04:52it's got good character, and we just need to be strong with them now.
04:56I'll quickly finish off with Jordan, Simon and Dominic, please.
04:59Anyone, I mean, you've asked us a lot of times,
05:01but what has to put our way of home town and what has to change for us to do?
05:06Yeah, I mean, we're not ducking the issue
05:08and not trying to be clever,
05:10but I just think we just need to look at the performances in isolation.
05:13Whether they're home or away, it's irrelevant really.
05:15I think it's about what the team's identity is on that day and how it plays.
05:21If it's home or away, for me, I don't really care.
05:24So you look back to the Chelsea game and for 45 minutes,
05:27we were excellent, everything that we want to be.
05:31Today for the second half, I think we were as good without the goals.
05:34So I think we're closer, as I say, for me than we've been before this season,
05:40but we've still got areas to improve.
05:42We need to keep more clean sheets.
05:43We haven't kept a clean sheet in a long time in the Premier League.
05:46That's not good enough.
05:47And we need to score more goals.
05:50Now, every team will say that, every manager will say that.
05:52I believe we have the players to do it,
05:55but we need to do more work and tweak certain things to get there.
05:58I just want to remind you, as well, aren't you landing on this?
06:00What do you want?
06:00I don't see what's the condition.
06:03Yeah, he just took a knock against Chelsea.
06:05We don't think it's too serious.
06:06We hope to have him back pretty quickly.
06:08Sorry.
06:09When you're talking about confidence,
06:11and you're also saying that you've got the quality,
06:14what is it?
06:15Is it the players are a bit tentative in what they're doing?
06:19They're not certain in the actions that they're carrying out.
06:23What causes the kind of issue?
06:27I don't think there's any lack of certainty or anything like that.
06:30I think you've got to take a few things into account.
06:32We're a team that is in slight transition.
06:34We've had a lot of change from the solidity of last year to this year.
06:37A lot of new players coming in.
06:38We've got a lot of injuries to our backline at the moment,
06:41and a lot of good players that are missing.
06:42That adds a feeling of strength and secureness within the team.
06:47I think our frailties defensively, in part, can be put down to that.
06:51Only in part, not blaming that on everything.
06:54We've got some big players to come back and some big characters.
06:56A lot of leaders that haven't been fit and available,
06:59Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Sven Bottmann.
07:01They've got big voices and we miss that leadership as well.
07:07That's why I say, ultimately, long-term, I think we'll be fine,
07:12but we're going through a bit of a period where we're going to be tested
07:15and we need to be really strong mentally and stay resolute to our beliefs.
07:19Dominic?
07:20Zero points for the losing positions this season.
07:23At what point is it a mentality issue and at what point is it maybe a tactical issue,
07:27not able to make the changes to impact the game?
07:31Yeah, I mean, it's another one of those statistics that don't look good on us this year.
07:38I mean, you've got loads more where they come from as well.
07:41Because if you want to view things like that, I think for me, yeah, that's a concern.
07:46Of course, you want that feeling.
07:47I think we did it really well last year, we came back a lot.
07:49It's a feeling. You can sense when we've got a goal down, but it's okay.
07:55We're going to come back and win the game.
07:56Maybe we haven't got that same feeling that we had.
07:59Could be related to our lack of goal scoring on the road.
08:01So I think these things go in sequences sometimes that you can't work out.
08:06For us and for me, currently, as I said, I'm looking at it individually,
08:09game by game, rather than looking back historically too far.
08:12I don't think that helps.
08:13Big humble shot in the second half. What were your thoughts on that?
08:16I appealed like everybody else.
08:18I thought I saw an arm, but I haven't seen it again,
08:20so I've got no idea if it was close or not.
08:22Okay, concludes this part of the presser.
08:24We'll preview our game against...
Comments