Paul Heckingbottom press conference

  • last week
Transcript
00:00Could you welcome anyone back to the squad? Paul, is it too soon?
00:03Yes, Steffie. Steffie was just ill, so he's back. Will, we're not taking any risks with,
00:08so we're not going to include Will. So, yes, just a bit of common sense there, really.
00:15We've got a lot of players at the minute. We're a touchwood, decent squad in terms of numbers to
00:21pick from, and there's usually times in a season where you are stretching. You probably need to
00:26take more risks, but at this moment we don't, so we're not going to.
00:30Has Will done anything, or is he just feeling it a bit tight?
00:33Just hamstring, just a real low-grade hamstring injury that we weren't taking any risks with.
00:41He's not trained yet, keeping him out of the way and letting him do all his stuff
00:44in a controlled way with the physios.
00:46And that's a chance maybe for Militant to really show you what he's all about,
00:49I guess, which he did at Harrogate.
00:51Yes, the thing is, we were just in the door, what, ten days? We had three games,
00:58couldn't do much, and then Milly was one of the ones who went away, you know what I mean?
01:01Robbie was, Ali was, and we just got Ali back fit. Steph a little bit different,
01:05because we got working with him in between the games, but even so, it would have been good to
01:09have him. So, yes, we just got in the door and then those four left us when we were working.
01:15So, yes, it's nice to have them back and see what they're about and work with those lads as well.
01:20Was the FB quite understanding why he got taken off on Saturday?
01:23Was there any chat needed or did you expect him to get on with it?
01:26Yes, partly. Listen, I think the players probably have to get used to me doing that at half-time.
01:30I think you can't wait for things and it was the way the game was and the fact we could get Josh
01:37out there 1v1, that was the space. And we weren't as productive as we needed to be on the left,
01:43even though we had the extra body. So, yes, it was just a case of that was the change that we
01:48felt was needed and, yes, I think you have to be able to do that. And the fact that we'll probably
01:57see it happen a lot more times as the players will understand it's just something we do.
02:01Yes, so it's not against Jeffy's performance, it's just the team and what the team needed.
02:06With Mads, how much potential do you think there is there? He's a bit of a fan favourite and he's
02:10a good character, isn't he? Probably quite unique, but you're quite excited what you can do with him?
02:14Yes, well, it'll be down to Mads. We'll make it really clear and push. So,
02:17there's a bit I really liked about his goal, for example. We put real pressure on him before the
02:22games and Steph has been doing really well for us and literally every time we've been wide,
02:28every time we broke, whether that's with good possession, whether that's with a regain out
02:31of the pitch, Steph has made the box. So, Mads, that was a big part of Mads' game at the weekend
02:38and he could have done more in terms of runs behind in open play, but when we did get behind,
02:42he was actually, he might have been our deepest midfielder when we broke and he still made the box
02:47and a good finish because he's a good technical player and can calm in those situations. So,
02:52yes, more from him in those moments in the game. You can't just accept that,
02:58oh, I wasn't there, I couldn't finish. No, you get there and you finish and, yes,
03:02the fact he's done that in that first moment is really good and, yes, sets the bar for him.

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