In no way disgraced tonight...
I thought we were excellent. The only difference was in the two boxes. I can’t remember Josh (Griffiths) making a save. They have scored with the three chances they had. We had loads of good opportunities and that’s probably the only difference in the levels, but I’d take that performance any day of the week and I’ve just told the players. We have to show that belief. We have come away from Peterborough and put in a really good performance, we have come to a Championship club and put in a really good performance. We played half an hour on Saturday with a really good performance. Don’t come off it. You have to have that underdog spirit and be at it all the time. When we did, we kept trying to get Conor (Thomas) to go into the back three to make a back four and at 0-0 and 1-0 we weren’t quite sure, but at 3-0 we were saying ‘go on, do it’. It’s doing that at 0-0 and 1-0. Some of the football we played, the patterns we showed, some of the chances we created was excellent.
Their goals seemed to come at good times for them, but you scored the last goal after sticking to the task
That’s the different level. The first ball is a diagonal, their lad sees it quicker than our lads, lands on it and has the quality to hit it from outside the box. Real fine margins and that’s what happens when you go up levels. I’d like to see the possession and shot stats and Alex (Addai) could have been slipped in two or three times, but just couldn’t find the right weight of pass. They changed their shape at the end to see the game out. We were 3-0 down with half an hour left, but we didn’t stop. That’s what I was really pleased with, the mentality of the group today.
Presumably you’d like to see the Alfie May disallowed goal again because it was a tight offside decision wasn’t it?
Again, that shows you. It was 1-0 at half-time and our analyst believes he was bang in line on the same blade of grass almost. I said to them before the game I’d take a performance over the result tonight so I am delighted with every single one of them. People come in or having to play another game…there are going to be loads of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday this year, so get on with it. All in all, it sounds a bit stupid when you’ve just been beaten, but I am absolutely delighted.
That was a strong Millwall team as well
Yes, most of them will play at the weekend I’d have thought and they’ve just missed out in the Championship. They are a good team and they were expected to beat us, but it’s the way we moved them around at times. It’s not crash, bang, wallop trying to land second balls and land on a knock down, we opened them up quite a few times and that’s the way we want to play. The players need to believe it and the reason we play like that is because it suits the players. Having that belief and not letting it turn into arrogance or complacency, because then it becomes sloppy and slow. There is a reason why we keep it at the back and it’s to make an overload somewhere else on the pitch. I am delighted with that.
Finn Azaz came on at half-time and got the goal. How bright was he?
He showed what we brought him in for. He could have scored on Saturday. Could have had an assist with WIllo’s (Andy Williams) chance on Saturday. Came on and scored today and could have had another one. We believe he’s a good footballer, but it’s a lot to ask him to play 46 League games. The mentality, he is already learning after 10 days of the season, how we want to play and certain things we are asking him to do differently. It was his first goal in men’s football as well so he’ll remember this night for a long time.
Matty Blair got some minutes, how useful is that?
Matty was only playing 60 minutes and it helped when the third goal went in, to clarify your thinking. Another 60 minutes and we need to manage him, not 90, 90, 90. It was a funny one for Blairy and he couldn’t really get into the game as the left-sider and him blocked each other off almost wing-back against wing-back, but that happens at times. He got through the minutes and his high speed running, so that’s another positive.
It didn’t look like anyone came off injured tonight, how important is that ahead of Tranmere?
It’s too early to tell now and adrenaline is still pumping. Once that comes out of the body, they might get some soreness and stiffness. Rags (Charlie Raglan) has a cut above his eye, but that happens to him quite a lot so hopefully it’s nothing serious and I am sure he’ll be fine.
It is a little bit of confidence and faith restored ahead of Tranmere?
Not really. We’ve won the first two games against Peterborough and Newport. Yes we were disappointed to lose on Saturday, but there were positives in the first half an hour, but we came off it. We need to get back to what we do and when we do it well, we’ll win more games than we lost.
Conor Thomas going into the back three – what’s the thinking behind that?
If they are playing a front three, they are going man for me. They are a 3-4-3 so they only have two in midfield, so you need to create an overload. We work on overloads quite a lot. We try and get overloads in wide areas, but sometimes you need to do it in the middle of the pitch and out the back. If one of their midfielders wants to follow him, there are spaces in the middle of the pitch. It’s something we work on quite a lot and he does it well generally. Clem (Chris Clements) does it as well and he came on the second half. In the first half they get a press on it and it’s all a bit tight, but in the second half we get out of it nearly every time. There is a reason why we are doing it and it’s not keeping it for the sake of keeping it because if that was the case, in the first half we ended up kicking it back to Josh and ended up whacking it. You might as well whack it in the first place, rather than having four or five risky passes. So we don’t believe it is a risk. Sometimes it might go wrong, but we get out more times than we don’t, when it’s done probably.
Eddie Howe was here tonight. Have you had a chat with him?
I’ve just been chatting with him for five minutes and he was very complimentary. He said we looked really good. He said he’s been keeping an eye on my career from afar. He said I have to do it the hard way, which is the same way he did it. But he is a manager known for the way his team plays. He was complimentary about the defensive record last year. He is a good guy, Eddie. He knows Wade really well and they played together at Bournemouth and came through at Bournemouth together. For someone at that level to come and watch the game be complimentary, you’ll take that credit, but don’t rest on your laurels. We’ve had one good performance and got beaten ultimately. There is no getting away from the fact of that as well. There is detail within the performance we need to touch up on, same as every game really.
Everyone knows about the Steve Cotterill and Sean Dyche influence on your career. Is Eddie Howe someone you have spoken too much since starting in management?
I’ve not spoken to him much, no. I learned quite a bit from him when he first came in. He’s only a month older than me, Eddie. It’s a strange one because he came in as a young manager and I was an old player. It was a little bit different to start with in terms of him trusting my body because sometimes he thought I felt as bad as he did because he retired young and I didn’t feel bad. But some of his sessions, the way he organised and the detail with his analysis, things like that I definitely took. I don’t speak to him a lot, but he influenced me and all managers do. Eddie was really detailed in his coaching and I definitely pinched a few sessions off him as well.
Not many Championship clubs have a Matt Smith type striker up front do they?
No, he is a little bit different and they play to his strengths well, working it into wide areas and he pulls off on the diagonal and it is difficult if you are looking at the ball one way and there is a 6ft 6in bloke standing behind you. As soon as you open up he’ll make a run across you. I know Matt and he was complimentary afterwards too. It’s easy to be when you have won the game, but I think they are not stupid and they realise they’ve been a game today.
