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00:00Tommy, a competitive, nearly all-draw against Southend extends the unbeaten run to four games in all competitions, so do you view that as a positive point?
00:08Yeah, absolutely. I think Southend are one of the better sides we've played this season.
00:13They've had a very similar opening 14 or 15 games to what we have, and we both feel that we should have more points.
00:21I think there's not many teams we've played that I've felt that are on par with the football that we try and play.
00:27So, credit to Kevin, his staff and players, they've come here and they've had a great go at it.
00:32I felt we should have been in front very early in the game. We missed a really good opportunity, the only real opportunity,
00:38a glaring opportunity for either side. So, all in all, over the 90-odd minutes, I'm pleased with the point and we move on to the next game.
00:48As you say, it was straight out of the traps in that first couple of minutes.
00:51Kai wins that ball and pulls it back for Jack, and Jack just doesn't quite get there, does he?
00:56Well, he got there. I don't understand why. Maybe he saw something I didn't see. I wasn't there.
01:01I was ready to turn around and celebrate with the bench, but it didn't happen.
01:09I don't know whether he lost a little bit of confidence in that or what, but you have to do all sorts of things to win football matches
01:16or to get something out of football matches. I think we've got to take real pleasure in the way we defended.
01:22We had spells of pressure and they had spells of pressure, and when they did, we restricted them to crossing the ball into a box,
01:29which we defended well, or shots from distance mostly, which we blocked well.
01:33So, a goalkeeper and their goalkeeper hasn't had a massive amount to do.
01:36But I think it was a little bit like a chess match, really, and we move on to the next game. It's as simple as that.
01:41Yes, the saves Marcus had to make, they were pretty regulation, really, weren't they? He wasn't stretched.
01:46Well, neither was their lad, in fairness. But I didn't think it was a boring, nil-nil draw. It was a bit like a chess match.
01:51Like I said, I changed three of my front line today, simply because I had a feeling that they would expose one or two people in our side
02:00who they know very well, and that's because I know Kev. So, he was probably a little bit shocked,
02:05but not overly, when he realised I was just mixing it around a little bit.
02:09I guess you'd have expected Southend's pressing and well-prepared for that.
02:14Yes, listen, they're a big football club. I know they've had their trials and tribulations off the pitch,
02:19but their team and their staff deserve credit for the way they've been competitive all the way through it.
02:24Last season, had they not had the points taken away from them, they'd have been right up there.
02:27The personnel, whilst it's changed a bit, the crux of the group are still there.
02:32They've got a guy who's coming off the bench who's moved for £2 million in the last four or five years, or whatever it was.
02:39We know what we are, we know what we're trying to do, and I think Southend were trying to do very similar things to us.
02:45We cancel each other out a lot, but I'm really pleased with the way we stuck at the task,
02:51and more so the clean sheet. Clean sheets are rare, they have been rare for us, but we've got another one tonight.
02:57It means you can't lose again.
02:59Both sides had spells, and you showed that resolute edge when you needed to, to get that clean sheet,
03:05which you say is always important, isn't it?
03:07It is. We've had to make changes in the back line particularly, and the lads we've brought into the team
03:12are a little bit more robust and are a little bit more basic in terms of the defending,
03:17but they've been prominent in the last two games because Eastleigh brought a huge aerial and mobile threat.
03:22Today, at the beginning of the game, with the big lad and the little lad at the start, Peplum Walker,
03:27you've got big man, little man, so you've got to deal with that.
03:29You've got to deal with that, but then you bring on Macaulay Bond, Jack Bridge and Appiah,
03:33and you've got a very different threat there.
03:35You've got to give credit to my back line and goalkeeper, but like I always say,
03:39if we don't score, I don't just look at the strikers, it's the foundation that we build from
03:44hasn't been quite good enough to give the strikers enough chances at goal today.
03:48But, I will say, we've been able to defend the box the way we have because our strikers and our midfield men
03:53have grafted their tails off to put pressure on Southend when they enter our final third.
03:58So, look, people think I'm talking nonsense and call me deluded again,
04:02but ultimately, you've got to know what you're up against, and we were up against a very good side,
04:06and I'd like to think Kev will think the same.
04:08We spoke on Saturday night, actually, before he came over here, and he said he'd take a point then.
04:14He should have stayed in Southend. I could have said, well, I'll do the same, we can move on.
04:18As I say, it sends some beating around to four games now.
04:21We look to build on that, but obviously, quite a quick turnaround for a long trip to Hartlepool, isn't it?
04:25Yes, we're back in in the morning.
04:28Just have a look at how the lads have returned after a good night's kip,
04:33and then we're up the road to Hartlepool on Friday.
04:37Yes, it is a bit of a shorter turnaround.
04:39It's not ideal that you've got the turnaround and the journey, but it is what it is.
04:44The fixtures have fallen that way.
04:46It was now a decision to change the fixture from Tuesday to Wednesday.
04:49That was the league, and we're not the only team.
04:52Yes, we've got to deal with that.
04:54We've got to hopefully go up there and add to the point that we've got.
04:57We've taken four out of two games this week.
05:00If you can do that most weeks, you won't be far away.
05:02Yes, two points a game, that's always going to do well, isn't it?
05:06Yes, third of the way in the season, and it's very condensed, the table, isn't it?
05:11It is. I think it's a tougher league this year.
05:13I think last year you had one or two standout teams that you thought,
05:17well, if you finish above them, you'll win the league.
05:19I don't think you can say that this year.
05:20I think there's some good sides, and obviously some have had better starts than others.
05:23That's the nature of the game.
05:24But I think the points are being distributed a lot more,
05:27so I don't think it'll be as big a total to win the league or to get in the playoffs.
05:32But ultimately, you've just got to keep adding to the total you've got
05:38and make sure that you take everything you can from a game.
05:41If you can't win it, don't lose it.