00:15The lads have been immense for us tonight, everything we set out to do in terms of the
00:20performance level, I felt we achieved the kind of discipline and the tactical understanding
00:27of what was required, the speed of our pressing and the quality with the ball, I think that's
00:32really important because when we came into the game and prepared for it, we said lads
00:36we're not just setting up to stop Chelsea tonight, we're setting up to create opportunities
00:40and play and I felt we always carried a threat on the night and yeah of course the dressing
00:46room is quiet which you'd expect after a defeat but when we wake up tomorrow I think the lads
00:53can be immensely proud and the supporters will be of the way we've played.
00:58How much pride as well do you take in fact that you were still creating big opportunities
01:02when you were down to the timeline?
01:04Well everybody who's played football knows that 11 v 10 into extra time when so much energy
01:09has been used is a difficult ask but we said at the break of the extra time there's a moment
01:16there isn't the present there nearly was with the disallowed goal and then we've had other
01:21chances, Lewis's left foot shot to have taken the game to penalties so I think on the night
01:26we deserved the very least to go to penalties and some big calls have gone against us.
01:31Yeah, with regards to those big calls, two VAR and subventions, the red card and the disallowed
01:36goal, what do you think?
01:36Well first of all, first taste of VAR here at the Stoke Carras Stadium and I think the,
01:45well I know the rule is it's got to be a clear and obvious mistake to have the on-pitch
01:50decision
01:50to be changed and I think the ref's got to back his judgement of the real-time kind of instant
01:57and the moment. Of course when you get caught over a screen which I don't think you should
02:01have done and you kind of analyse it and scrutinise it, you know we'll say that he's caught
02:06him on the shin but he's scraped his shin but he's in a great position to see the initial
02:11incident and I think it's very harsh and should have been kept with the on-pitch decision.
02:17The offside is the offside, it's marginal, is Kiefer's header going in anyway but Brunty
02:22always going to finish that off in that situation is marginal so we can't complain if that was
02:27offside but I think the red card and now to lose a player for three games is a tough decision
02:33and I really don't agree with VAR sending the ref to the screen and once the ref's got
02:38the screen him changing his mind because he's had a great view of it.
02:40When you look at it you said the lads were obviously disappointed in the dressing room, is there
02:45any sense that you've got to lift them because in theory you've got eleven bigger games or
02:50so to go now between now and the end of the season to maybe be playing Premier League football
02:53next season and having VAR more regularly as well?
02:56Well certainly it won't knock us tonight because we will take the positives of the evening without
03:04doubt and we are on a good run in the league and we will regroup now and get ready for
03:09what will be a terrific game here on Tuesday night against Hull City.
03:12I spoke to them both before the game, I haven't had a chance yet but I am sure we will
03:18have
03:19a chat later and they are up here with our families and it was a night, we have had many
03:25of those types of games here at the Stadium over the years and quite often we have come out
03:29on top in those tight goalscoring games, tonight it wasn't to be but we came very close.
03:40Supporters reaction at the end said it all felt?
03:42Yeah I think that was fantastic, the supporters, the way they recognised what the lads had given
03:47on the pitch tonight and that means a lot because you see stadiums emptying when teams are getting
03:55beat but every single supporter stayed in the ground to clap the team off tonight.
03:59Fantastic finish by Sam from Diode who had a fantastic game, the ball put through to put you
04:04on the low.
04:05Yeah I mean Sam carried a real threat tonight, it was a great run and a good finish, he had
04:11another chance when he checked back in as well but I thought he played well, it is a good test
04:18for us tonight, I said to Sam you are playing against good centre-halves, the lapsed £60m player
04:24playing for them, let's hope people are talking about you after the game and they so nearly were
04:29because those moments could and maybe should have been part of a winning performance.
04:36And have to go out and peg back, go back and make it too well and probably the only disappointment
04:41being the leader in the last very long four minutes.
04:43Yeah just a slip on the edge of the box and we got punished for it which of course you'd
04:50rather that didn't happen but it did, you get setbacks within games of football and it's
04:55how you respond and I was pleased that when those moments happened, they said no for the goal,
05:00you know we kept going and we kept believing there was something in the game for us.
05:04They all know that they were in for a game tonight?
05:06I think that was important and ever since me and Steve have been here we've said that
05:10any team who comes to this ground has got to know they've been in a proper game of football
05:15and that was.
05:16And you said about everyone watching being proud but you must be very proud of your players as well.
05:20Yeah because tactically against Chelsea, obviously they play a similar style to teams that we
05:28come against at our level but they're just better at it and they've got better quality players
05:32executing their game plan and I thought that we'd cope with that really well.
05:37We were comfortable in our shape but there's equal importance that we looked good in possession
05:43and you've got to remember the players we've got out of that midfield as well.
05:49We had to change the midfield around a lot recently but the lads who came in did brilliantly.
05:55Phil, I know you don't like to look too far ahead but this could be a glimpse into the future,
06:00couldn't it?
06:00Well that's got to be the aim whether it's this year or going forward that playing these teams,
06:08that's what it's all about having nights like this.
06:10That's what you're in football for.
06:12We'd worked really hard to get to this stage with the Forest win and the Ipswich win
06:15and we wanted to kind of embrace the night and we did.
06:19And yeah, of course, you're in football to be involved in big games like tonight.
06:24Phil, just following up on that, when you look at them making nine changes
06:28and you look at the names on their bench and just the sheer outlay that you've made in their squad,
06:33is that maybe a timely reminder to everyone involved in this project about what that next step,
06:38whether you make it this year or two, three years down the line.
06:42Yeah, listen, it's a huge gulf, isn't it, between the spending power and the Premiership
06:45and where we are in the Championship and where we've come so quickly.
06:49But it would be nice to try and bridge that gap.
06:54Obviously you're never going to do it financially but in terms of finding other ways to get quality in the
06:59squad.
07:00You mentioned how quiet the dressing room was afterwards. Do you leave them to it or do you say a
07:04few words then?
07:05No, we had a chat after the game about the performance and the result will not make us flat for
07:14Tuesday,
07:14it's going to lift us and that's the way we're going to approach Tuesday night's game.
07:18But you're used to a lot of attention. This is a different level, isn't it?
07:23And when you talk about the prize, is it because you show what not just your team is about,
07:28but what the clubs are about?
07:30Well, I always say in these interviews, obviously not quite as many people normally here but over the years,
07:37that the team's got to reflect the town, what the people of Wrexham are all about
07:42and that's what we've always tried to do and I'm pleased that we did that tonight and that's very important.
07:49Thank you gentlemen, thank you very much. Cheers.
Comments