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00:00Conor Callum, a narrow 1-0 defeat to exit the League Cup quarter-finals against a strong
00:06Hassock side. A very bright second-half performance tonight, though, and could have maybe got
00:13back level and taken out some penalties.
00:14Yeah, I think the first half was obviously a little bit disjointed. We made, I think,
00:19eight changes to what started on Saturday for us and which has been quite a consistent
00:25start on 11 this year. So, you know, it was always probably going to be a little bit disjointed.
00:30And then we obviously had to go in the second half, change a few things, say a few things.
00:36And then obviously, every time we're making subs on, our more regular starters are coming
00:39onto the pitch, which is probably why it looked that way in the second half. But yeah, I think
00:44first half they had a number of good chances and I think second half we had a number of
00:49good chances. So, you know, I was on the balance of it, fairly even, but I think probably
00:54they deserved to go through.
00:57You've been consistent in the Cup to make changes and it's the right thing to do, manage
01:03the squad, give people minutes. Presumably, it's just obviously players, you don't have
01:08that consistency of partnerships and that sort of thing maybe at the start of the game
01:11that you've just sort of got to overcome that?
01:13Yeah, no, we were expecting a little bit of disjointedness, but what we were a little bit
01:16disappointed of was just a bit of intensity without the ball. We expect there to be a
01:20bit of unsure about people's positioning when they have the ball and just like relationships
01:25and stuff. But defensively, our structure hasn't changed and a lot of them lads have
01:29played for us this season. So, we're a little bit disappointed with the aggression. We felt
01:33like we allowed them just to dictate the game a little bit first off and we just looked
01:36a bit unsure. We had a few words at half-time, just asked for a little bit more in that department,
01:41a little bit more aggression, a little bit more intensity off the ball. And then on the
01:44ball, we knew the space was going to be out wide because of the formation that we were
01:47playing against. So, I thought the lads did well second half to be fair. Give the lads
01:52credit, all the ones that started the game and then obviously the boys that came on made
01:55a big difference. And yeah, I think we probably could have took it to penalties. I thought
01:59probably on the balance of it, maybe deserved it. But first half, they were a lot better
02:03and if you take your chance like they did, then yeah, they deserved to go through.
02:07Yes, so obviously you asked for more at half-time and you really got it in that second half
02:11and as I say, the chances were there. And as I say, the fresh legs you brought on,
02:16Cable, Kalkinba, real regular players and that obviously made a difference as well.
02:21Yes, 100 per cent. As I said, when you're bringing in players that are consistently
02:26playing and consistently playing together in a system that obviously they're used to
02:31every week, it's almost inevitable that you're going to get that sort of reaction. And also
02:35the players, I felt that the players that we bring on were people that are eager to
02:40get on the ball, that are eager to make things happen. And I think we probably needed that
02:43spark. Think about even Toby Bill, to be honest, he's a young lad who's playing in the 23s,
02:49but he always wants the ball. He does everything he can to get on the ball. And that's the
02:52same with Kyle and Kieran. So those are the types of things that you need, especially
03:00if you wind up down in a game and you need to go and push or something.
03:03Obviously got the penalty early on and then Ashton Sefford, just unfortunate, off the
03:07bar. Just one of those, wasn't it? And then I'd say, if you have a good chance, it's Bob
03:11Tedder. And Kieran's through, isn't he? Real nice dink, gets the dink right, but just wide,
03:16wasn't it? So the chance is really well there.
03:18Yes, no, we did create probably the three opportunities you said were probably the main
03:21ones. Had a lot of opportunities to probably pick someone out of the box. Obviously, it's
03:25difficult when the ball's wide to actually find your man. I thought they defended their
03:28box quite well. We managed to get in a few times with the opportunities you mentioned.
03:32And just yet, just didn't have that. If a Kieran one stands out for me the most, I feel
03:35like that was probably the easiest chance of all. Bob Tedder defended quite well. I
03:40think he could have got a bit more contact on the ball. And obviously the penalty, I
03:45suppose, it's probably the easiest opportunity, to be fair. So unfortunate for Ashton, he
03:49sent the goal the wrong way, just obviously put too much on it and somehow hit the bar
03:53on the uphill a bit. But in the end, just didn't have that killer instinct to get the
03:59goal. And they took their goal quite well, to be fair to them. And Kieran, I thought,
04:03made a couple of good saves throughout the whole game. So, like I said before, we just
04:08fell short, but not too disappointed with the performance. The lads got good minutes
04:11and the legs on a tough surface. So, just now, look forward to the eSport on Saturday
04:16and train on Thursday.
04:18Yeah, obviously, that's another real big game, eSport, isn't it? Again, aside, you're
04:22one place below you in that play-off battle. That's a real pivotal game.
04:27Yeah, 100 per cent. They've obviously massively picked up from the start of the season. They've
04:32clearly been on a very good run, picking up results against almost everyone, to be
04:36honest. So, you know, we know that's going to be a very, very tough game. They've got
04:39a lot of new personnel in since we last played them. So, you know, we're not as probably
04:45as wise as what we're expecting to be to what they play. But, you know, we'll do everything
04:51that we can to get as much information for the boys into training on Thursday and go
04:55there and hopefully get a positive result.
04:58And for all the positives of the second-half performance, I guess the negative was at the
05:03end with the red card for Kyle Kimber and the symbol for Cable, which could be ten yellows,
05:08couldn't it, for the season?
05:10Yeah, so it might mean we want to miss Cable for a couple of games, which is really frustrating.
05:15Kyle, obviously, with the red card is not ideal because if it's a red card that stands
05:21while they're conducting a three-game ban, which means we're missing the important games
05:23coming up. This is why we have a good squad. This is why they've had opportunities tonight.
05:27They've got a chance to prove. Kyle will have to learn from that. And then, yeah, we
05:32believe in the squad anyway, so if Kyle can't play, we'll have another back-up, which will
05:36hopefully do a good job as well.
05:38Yes, so you believe in the squad and say people have got good minutes. And Rudy Blankson on
05:43a dual-redge from Horne-Dean. Thoughts on his evening's work?
05:47Yeah, I mean, we had Rudy for a game last year and we were really impressed with him.
05:52You know, he can play in a number of positions. He's obviously coming from, as you said, the
05:55league above and he's a good player at the league above. So, you know, we're delighted
05:59about him. I think he's got a three-game ban, so he's going to be with us until that ban's
06:03served. You know, he's still getting used to how we play because it's very different
06:09styles and stuff, so getting used to how we play. But yeah, I thought he did everything
06:15he could. He worked hardest, did his best. To be fair, he had a chance that he probably
06:20feels that he probably should have taken, but I thought overall his all-round play was
06:25all right.
06:26But as you say, yeah, good showing against, obviously, a strong Hassell's team tonight
06:30and just, yeah, keep the momentum going in the league now, really. And so that play-off
06:33push now, obviously, will be a big game that he's won.
06:36Yeah, no, obviously, we prioritised the league game on Saturday. There's no hiding that with
06:41the eight changes we made. It didn't mean we weren't taking this game seriously because
06:44we obviously wanted to get through them and the changes we made during the game showed
06:46that we were trying to get a result. But if you asked me if I wanted to win this game
06:50or win Saturday more, Saturday is more important and that's obviously a decision we decided
06:55to make. So it was important. We rested some bodies and had a tough couple of games previously.
07:00A tough game on Saturday, especially against an opponent quite special in the league. So
07:04we think if we can get a result Saturday, the sacrifice tonight might be worth it. However,
07:10it's important now we are on it Saturday and we get a result because, obviously, if we
07:14don't get a positive result, we're going to be potentially asking questions while we've
07:17made changes. But we believe that it's the best thing for the group and, at the end of
07:20the day, that's all that matters.