00:02OK, good evening, everyone. Damien, do you want to get us kicked off, please?
00:06Any job done? You said yesterday that the aim at the start of the camp
00:09was three to last 16, you've done it, presumably now,
00:12the aim is to prove that you're more than worthy to be there.
00:15Yeah, absolutely, I think a massive achievement from us
00:18to get to the last 16, I think nothing was given to us
00:23at the start of this Champions League run that we've been on.
00:27I think I love the new format, I think it's a really, really good thing,
00:31I think you get to see individual teams and you then get to move on to another one.
00:35We've really enjoyed it and then coming to the pressure games,
00:39the doubleheader, I think we've navigated that really well
00:41because it's a tough, I don't care who you play at this stage,
00:44it's a tough draw and we did the majority of the work in the away game.
00:49We've come through really well and today we were able to rotate our squad to a degree
00:54and with mixed success, I think, I don't think it was a great performance,
00:56but really pleased that we won.
00:59And was it in the chapter for writing?
01:02Yeah, I think that's the great thing now in our season,
01:04there's a positive feel that whoever we get in the next round
01:08will be an amazing tie for us.
01:11I believe that we can raise our game and compete with anybody,
01:14that's what we're going to have to do, whoever we get,
01:17but I just think it's a massive thing for us to give our season an extra boost
01:22to get through this knock-out phase and then into the next one.
01:25Thanks, Damien.
01:26We've got to Luke, Kieran and Lee, please. Luke?
01:29How difficult is it to get your players motivated and focused for a game like that?
01:35Were you at 6-1 at 1 for the first league?
01:36Yeah, I'd say the players were really motivated.
01:39We did a lot of work yesterday and today to prepare the game.
01:44I think the problem we had today was going 2-0 up so early,
01:47it was almost a sort of a dangerous feeling for us that this game was dead
01:52because we were really determined to try and win.
01:54Again, I think you have to give Carabao credit, they regrouped,
01:57they stabilised and made it difficult for us.
01:59Played very low, restricted space and after going 2-0 up,
02:04I don't think we showed the urgency we needed to go and get more goals
02:06and then we paid for that in the second half.
02:09After making some changes we became disjointed
02:11and the game became too transitional for us.
02:14There's a lot to reflect and improve on that performance,
02:17but the most important thing is we won the game.
02:20One of the big talking points at the moment is Nick Altamada
02:23and this new, deeper role, how do you feel that went this evening?
02:28Yeah, I think it's probably the least he's affected the game
02:31in the time that he's played in that position,
02:34but I thought there were some really good bits and amongst that
02:36I think it was really, really limited in space.
02:39I think they defended very well behind, sorry, in front of their back four.
02:44So a new challenge for him, something he's going to have to overcome,
02:46but I don't think it was Nick necessarily his fault,
02:51I don't think the team functioned well after going 2-0 up
02:53and scoring two really good early goals.
02:55I thought we struggled to break them down.
02:57Thank you. Kieran?
02:58Is he feeling very much to bring it on whichever team you get?
03:04I think that's the mindset we have to have.
03:07We have to believe in ourselves.
03:08I think we've seen the best of ourselves this year
03:11when we've gone into cup games and one-off games
03:13where we've been able to really rise to whatever challenge we've had in front of us.
03:18So I think we'll have to go in with that mindset again
03:20and whoever we get in the next round.
03:23Then the challenge for us is now returning back to the Premier League
03:25is to build some consistency in our performance, in our way of playing.
03:31I think we've had a really good run.
03:33I think today's the poorest performance we've had in the last group,
03:36but we've won four out of five, so we have to sort of keep perspective.
03:40But we've got some big games now, starting with Everton.
03:43Thank you. Lee Ryder?
03:45Joel Linton came off and everyone came from the stand and enjoyed his passion.
03:49He wanted to steal the pitch, regardless of what you're so far ahead.
03:53He was up for the challenge.
03:56Yeah, Joey always plays with that passion.
03:58I think that's what makes him the player that he is.
04:01From my side, I'm trying to protect him
04:02and make sure that we're able to use him in the next game.
04:05He's had very limited football and he's such an important player,
04:08we need to keep him fit.
04:09There was method behind what I was trying to do with him.
04:12The same as Sven Bottmann,
04:13we need to try and keep these key players fit
04:15who haven't had a lot of football.
04:16So we need to build their robustness up.
04:19But I love the fact that he doesn't want to come off that sort of him
04:21in a nutshell, really.
04:23He's very passionate and wants to do well.
04:25Go to George, Craig and then Martin, please.
04:28I had a kind of related question.
04:31You chose Jonathan from the start and Dan Byrne
04:34both the booking away from suspension.
04:36You did rotate, but it was a very strong team switch.
04:39I know you talked a bit about this yesterday,
04:40but can you talk about why you did that
04:43and why you didn't change things anymore?
04:46Well, I had to play some players.
04:51I had to put 11 players out on the pitch
04:53and with Malik's suspension, Dan had to play.
04:59Because I wanted to give Lewis Hall a rest above anybody else.
05:02So it was really a case of just trying to select
05:03who we felt really needed it and who felt could get through the game.
05:08Now, thankfully, Dan and Joe didn't get booked.
05:10But I don't think you can go into the game with that sort of mindset.
05:13I think you've just got to play the game.
05:15We've got a really fragile squad at the moment.
05:17We've got a number of players that we're willing to get back as quickly as possible.
05:22I've got to say the lads that have played
05:23and have committed to every performance have been magnificent for us.
05:26Just slightly similar to Luke's question, what do you learn from the game?
05:30I know there's jeopardy in this tie, but realistically there probably was.
05:36What do you learn from a game like this where there's sort of a lack of tension?
05:41I think there's only a lack of tension because of how we played in that first leg.
05:45I saw Chelsea go to Karabag and draw the game
05:48and I thought it was a really even game, there was nothing in it.
05:50So I think you have to give us credit for winning when we win.
05:54We're well prepared to take criticism when we don't.
05:56So that wasn't an easy tie.
05:58I think we made it look that way with our professionalism.
06:01There's no easy games in any competition that we play.
06:05Greg?
06:05I don't know if you'll commit to answer either way on this,
06:08but given you have the best for the Champions League this season,
06:13does he bring out something extra in certain players?
06:16What's your best chance of playing this competition next season?
06:19Is it winning this year's edition or is it via the top five?
06:23In the Champions League, where's in the Premier League?
06:27You're right, I probably won't answer it.
06:28Because it's not something we're sort of thinking about.
06:35Of course we want to be in Europe every season.
06:38The best way for us to get there is to try and win as many games as we can.
06:42Our Premier League formers, we're desperate to get that back on track.
06:47We need to get that back on track.
06:48We need to get in that feeling of winning regularly.
06:51That's the only thing that's going to help us when we return to the Champions League.
06:54This competition is an amazing thing for us this year,
06:57and you just never know what surprises football can bring you.
07:01We'll just attack everything and try and do our best.
07:04Thank you. Martin?
07:06You've turned GS to GS in two and a half weeks. How have you done that?
07:14I think we've just tried to go very much to basics and the fundamentals of our performance.
07:20I think you could see that in the Tottenham game and in the Carabao game,
07:25where we were really front foot, we were really good athletically.
07:30And I think when we're really good athletically,
07:32I think you can see then our quality comes out.
07:35I didn't really feel that today, to be honest.
07:37I don't know whether the two early goals sort of took us away from where we needed to be,
07:42because we were a bit lethargic from that point onwards.
07:45But I think that's been at the fundamental part of our recovery.
07:50When I go to the Aston Villa game,
07:52really, really good athletically,
07:54really good intensity to everything that we ask the players to do.
07:58We're scoring goals, we've just got to defend better.
08:02I think that's got to be at the back of our minds now
08:05to bring long-term success to this season.
08:07And how much deeper do you want to go into this season's Champions League?
08:13I've got to say, that's a silly question.
08:15Because we want to go as far as we can, and why not?
08:17I think we're good enough to do it.
08:21We have raised our game.
08:22There's no denying that at times this season.
08:25Even in the Carabao Cup,
08:26I thought we'd produce some really good performances in the one-off games.
08:29The disappointment for us has been when we've returned to the Premier League
08:31and we're desperate for the consistency there.
08:34We haven't been able to do that.
08:35So, we want to obviously find a remedy to that,
08:40but we want to continue to go far in this.
08:41Thanks, Martin.
08:42Take a few more.
08:43We'll go to Scott, Dom, and finish with Mark, please.
08:45Scott.
08:46I was just going to ask about Will.
08:48Obviously, on the start of the night, he had a big hand in the first goal.
08:53But it made me feel still hard to see him start regularly in the Premier League
08:57at the moment.
08:58Where do you think he's at in terms of his development?
09:01Can he get to that level where he's banging on your door
09:05and maybe making you think about playing ahead of Anthony or your handoff?
09:10Yeah, I think the challenge and the difficulty for Will is one of another
09:14sort of small group of players that has probably suffered from an injury
09:17and then hasn't had the training time that he would need to get back to his very, very best.
09:23I mean, when Will's at his best, he's electric.
09:26He's so quick, strong, powerful.
09:27He's got all the tools.
09:29But he's had a very serious injury.
09:30He's been out for 13 weeks with an ankle problem.
09:32He's come back.
09:33He's had very limited training time because of the number of games we've had.
09:36We've had to have him available.
09:38And I think then you see tonight that he's probably not at his absolute best.
09:44And we need to try and help him get there.
09:46And I think he will.
09:48But as I said, he's not alone.
09:49There's a couple of other players in that position
09:51that we need to try and help get to their very best level.
09:54Dominic?
09:55No Jacob Ramsey today.
09:57How was he and could he be back involved again?
09:59We hope so.
10:01We hope there's nothing serious.
10:02He's just felt his hamstring, an awareness, a tightness in his hamstring.
10:05He had a scan and that came back all clear.
10:07So hopefully it will be a quick improvement and he'll be back involved.
10:12Hopefully for our next game.
10:13But let's wait and see.
10:15Mark to finish please.
10:16I was just going to ask about Sandro for the goal tonight, the brilliant performance.
10:20Do you feel he's really stepped up since Bruno's been injured?
10:24How has he done that?
10:27Possibly I haven't really thought about the reasons for him performing to a really good level.
10:35And I think he has in the last few games.
10:36I think he's been superb for us.
10:39And tonight I can picture him recovering full length of the pitch.
10:42Unfortunately the game did become transitional for us.
10:44And he was one of the players that was stand out for us in terms of recovering and then putting
10:48the fire out.
10:49Which I think is best really, athletically again.
10:52He's a player that is so good in those moments.
10:56Great to see him score.
10:58I think he can contribute and obviously got the double at Villa.
11:02So yes, great to see him back.
11:03He's such a big player.
11:04Thank you everyone.
11:05See you on Friday.
11:06Thanks very much.
11:07Thanks a lot.
Comments