00:01Mark, an entertaining 2-2 draw against Fulham in the National League Cup
00:04and then obviously penalty shootout, so the extra point didn't quite go the way there
00:08but thoughts on the game overall?
00:10Yeah, I think it was a topsy-turvy game, wasn't it?
00:13There's certainly some frustrating bits that I think we could have done better.
00:17I think at times we can be much, much tidier with the ball.
00:20I think at times we're a little bit guilty of giving silly passes away
00:23and where we can be secure in it and perhaps us on the attack.
00:27Sometimes we turn it over a little bit quickly and then we're having to defend.
00:31So there's definitely a little areas we need to improve there.
00:34I thought we did actually improve as the game went on.
00:37I think second half, we probably shaded it, I would say.
00:40I think if you look at it, I haven't got the stats for the game at the moment
00:44but I think we probably had, I would say, more efforts, more territory, that type of thing.
00:49But Fulham are a very, very good side.
00:51They've got a lot of talented players, as you would expect, at a Premier League academy.
00:54You know, obviously well coached, at times they caused us a few problems
00:58with their sort of rotations and, you know, moving that ball quickly.
01:02They're very sharp.
01:03And I think our lads can perhaps learn from that a little bit as well,
01:06you know, on how to look after the ball and how to improve our technical ability.
01:10But, you know, I thought the effort was there.
01:12Could have gone either way the game.
01:15You know, disappointed that we didn't win the penalty shootout.
01:17You always want to win every game.
01:20But, yeah, look, it was a pretty close one.
01:23And, again, good to get some lads who perhaps haven't had 90 minutes in the tank.
01:29I'm thinking of people like Conor Lawless, like Elijah, Jack Matten, Quaiku, Marcus Wiley.
01:35You know, those lads haven't really had 90 minutes for sort of some time.
01:38So they'll certainly be feeling it in their legs tomorrow
01:41and hopefully that will help us long term.
01:43Yeah, I mean, obviously the league is a priority, but this competition is good
01:46in terms of, like, giving minutes to players who need it.
01:49And also there's sort of different types of games against these sort of talented young sides, isn't it?
01:53Yeah, definitely.
01:54Yeah, and it's good for us as coaches, like you say, to maybe look at, you know,
01:59some of the rotation, some of the shapes that these pro clubs play.
02:04It is probably slightly different to National League.
02:07Probably the National League, I would say, would be more physical and more direct.
02:11But I think these teams pose different challenges.
02:14Having said that, I thought the Fulham lads really did sort of cope physically quite well.
02:19And it was a decent game.
02:21I think the people that were in attendance, I think, you know, probably enjoyed it.
02:25It was quite end-to-end, I think, as you said.
02:27And, you know, yeah, we just come off the wrong end of it.
02:30But lots of positives.
02:31And as we always say, lots to improve on.
02:33First half really sort of end-to-end and even.
02:35And then second half felt like you sort of got a bit more control sort of maybe in that second
02:40half.
02:40Yeah, I think perhaps sometimes when you're, I wouldn't say we throw in a team together,
02:45but that sort of team that perhaps started hasn't played together a lot.
02:50And then we're sort of making more changes.
02:51So I guess sort of you can expect maybe a little bit of lack of fluidity when you are making
02:56changes.
02:57And obviously we made five at half-time.
02:59So, yeah, you know, I think it may be some type of sort of relationships not quite working in the
03:06way we would like isn't that unusual when you're sort of mixing and changing things.
03:12But, again, I think the supporters tonight could see the effort from the players.
03:17I think the athleticism's there.
03:19We do go to the end.
03:20You know, we can get about the pitch.
03:22But what we've got to do is just perhaps maybe improve our sort of technical play a little bit.
03:28You know, we had a lot of long throws going in the box tonight as well.
03:31And we didn't always get the first contacts.
03:33If you're not going to get the first, you've got to pick up the bits.
03:35And I think, you know, for the amount of ball we had coming in the box, you'd like us to
03:39sort of get on the end of a little bit more.
03:41So, that's something for us to look at as staff as well and obviously practice a few penalties.
03:47That's a few we've missed now over the last few days.
03:50So, yeah, we've got to get that right.
03:53Yeah, I mean, Elijah's long throw, it's sort of been a weapon right through pre-season.
03:56And again, isn't it, his sort of really sort of quality sort of delivery he has from those.
04:00Yeah, I mean, it is a weapon for us, isn't it?
04:02You know, to have that option is always good.
04:05I don't think we want to sort of be a team that is going to be relying totally upon that,
04:09obviously.
04:09And Elijah, you know, has got things to work on in his game.
04:13I think, again, he's a very strong boy.
04:16His game, athletically, is very good.
04:18He's improving every day and he works hard in training.
04:21And this is his first real experience.
04:23You know, he was playing step three last year and he hasn't got an awful lot of experience at that
04:27level.
04:28So, he is a little bit raw, you know, but he has got those raw attributes of power, pace.
04:34You know, obviously the long throw is a great weapon to have.
04:36But obviously, you know, it's just not all about that.
04:39But, you know, we've got to keep developing his game as well.
04:41The first goal, a nice bit of play from Conor Lawless, sort of chopping and shot.
04:45And then Marcus Wiley with a little flick there, with a little touch.
04:47Yeah, I think Marcus got the last touch, didn't he?
04:49We couldn't quite see from the bench.
04:51Good strike from Conor.
04:52And, yeah, I think Marcus claimed that one.
04:55And then, you know, again, Hakim sort of showed he's got good feet, you know, good ability.
05:00Lots and lots of ability, Hakim.
05:02Just got to keep continuing to work on his end product.
05:06And I'm pleased for him to get his goal tonight.
05:09So, yeah, yeah.
05:11So, you're playing to take out tonight.
05:13Plenty of lads sort of getting minutes.
05:14And, you know, quite a quick turnaround because Saturday is obviously the early kickoff as well.
05:17Yeah.
05:18Yeah, probably not completely ideal.
05:20But we'll prepare as properly as we can now.
05:23The boys will have a rest tomorrow.
05:25You know, maybe Thursday we can look at some tactical bits.
05:28We've got, you know, looking ahead to Saturday.
05:30We have to look after them.
05:31You know, although it is a squad game, we haven't got the biggest of squads, I wouldn't suggest, in the
05:36National League.
05:36We're obviously really disappointed to lose John Gilbert for what looks like at least sort of three weeks or so.
05:43You know, John's a big player for us and we sort of obviously miss him in that attacking midfield role.
05:48So, we've sort of got picked up.
05:50We've picked up an injury there from Saturday.
05:52Hopefully no injuries tonight because, you know, we're certainly going to need as many fit bodies as we can.
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