A strange afternoon, but a very good one for your team and an outstanding performance from your players
Yes, I couldn't have put that any better. We spoke before the game and asked for a 'Cheltenham' performance. Over the past three or four seasons it's been gritty, organised, tough to beat, carry and threat and I thought we were all of those things. A really good performance and I am pleased we got something to go away with.
What pleased you the most about it?
The character and the endeavour. You could see everybody has played their part. There is a real spirit, helping each other and fighting and scrapping for each other. There are some really tired bodies and a lot of wounds, limps and strains, they've really had to go to the well, but it's going to be that sort of character and spirit - and we know it's a tough league and we are always fighting the odds - that has allowed us to do that over the last couple of years.
How pleased are you not to have a game on Tuesday, so the players can recover properly?
It's been a really tough start in terms of Saturday-Tuesdays, away games, injuries, getting people up to speed. I am not saying we'll take a deep breath, but it'll be nice to have a clear week. Everything has been reactive in the first couple of weeks because it's been game after game. It'll be nice to have a week where we are in control of it.
Two assistant referees went down injured. Have you ever seen anything like that before?
No, but he's probably the best official we've had this year! They should all have a curry and four pints before coming on because it seemed to do the trick. I did worry when he walked on and did the messiah salute to the North Stand. But it's something else we've had to deal with and the players dealt with it really well because it would have been easy to lose focus. It actually galvanised the crowd a little bit and gave them a sugar burst of 10 minutes where they really got behind them and we had to weather that, but the players were brilliant. I went in and spoke to them, gave them the facts and asked them what they wanted to do and they said 'bring it on'
Portsmouth's players stayed out on the pitch, but you took the players in. Why was that?
We didn't know how long it was going to be. I didn't want it to become a circus, with the players stood in the middle wondering what's happening. Get them away, let them refocus and it could have been 15 or 20 minutes. I didn't want the players stood up and talking about going Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, it was a little bit of that too.
How impressed were you with Will Goodwin's performance this afternoon?
I thought everyone gave everything. It's what I expect all the time, so I am not going praise them for that, but Will has had no football. He came back in really good shape, looking sharp and strong. He got injured early in pre-season and he's had 15 minutes or half an hour and we didn't expect him to last. He was proving too important to take off, so we were praying he could hang on and he did. He deserves a lot of credit for how he stood up today.
Curtis Thompson is getting fitter and is he showing what he'll bring when he's fully up to speed?
Yes, there were lots of good performances. Curtis is another one. We said when he signed it'd be a little while before we see the best of Curtis because we've been getting him up to speed on the job. He's catching up with his football because it's been a little while since he's played consistently with his injury. You can see what he's going to bring to us. I was really pleased with the performance and it's been a hard start, we've had brilliant support, everyone has been behind us and on board. If I was a fan in the away end, that's a performance I'd be really proud of. That's people giving absolutely everything they've got for the badge. I am pleased for everyone we've got something to take on the bus and go home with.
They had one off the post that Luke Southwood landed on, on the line, so a bit of luck there?
Yes, but in fairness that's the only real moment of note I can really remember, apart from that it was long-range shots and balls in the box. In fairness to us, we didn't dominate the ball and we didn't expect to from where we've been because we aren't suddenly going to flip it and play free-flowing football, but we carried a threat and we created opportunities. Just need one of them to break the well and we'll go from there.
How did you think Luciano D'Auria-Henry did on his debut?
He is different. On the left we have Ben (Williams) and Will (Ferry), who are different types, with different attributes and we now feel we have something different on the right. He's a different profile to Liam (Smith) and I just asked him how he found it compared to Under-21s and he said it's a little bit different! But I thought he showed up well and it was a big test for him, coming on when he did and in the manner that he did, the pressure he was put under. Hopefully we can keep working with him and he'll be a good signing for us.
Is Liam Smith okay?
It's his ankle he had the op on. It's probably the load of the games because he's gone from zero to 100. Possibly the load of the games has caught up with him, so we'll assess him and see how he is on Monday.
Was Aidan Keena just a bit of cramp?
I hope so. Aidan seems to think so.
What's the latest on Oli Hammond's injury?
It depends who you speak to. Oli will say it's about a week, but Gav (Crowe) will say it's a little bit longer than that. I don't know the ins and outs of the technical details.
Are you hoping for some new faces in the door this week?
Yes, we'd like to bring in one, two, three more and I think we have scope to do that. We are working on it and in constant dialogue, but you can see the squad is coming together and starting to take shape. We have been a little bit bare bones, but hopefully we are starting to get one or two options now and you can start to see what we are about a bit more.
Loans or is there scope for anything permanent?
It depends on budget, what's available and we are not closing ourselves off to anything, but it depends on lot of permutations.
How are James Olayinka and Elliot Bonds doing?
Not sure on James yet, quite. We still need to get an opinion on that. We are optimistic it's not too long because looking for attacking players, James gives us something and has a different profile to what we have in the squad. Bondsy, we had to wait to see how quickly the swelling went down and he's made really good progress. Initially we thought six to eight weeks, but hopefully it won't be that long.
So Oli Hammonds' is not a serious one?
Yes, there is a little bit of damage there, but not too long term.
What made you play three up front today?
Get more forwards on the pitch, for one. It gave us an attacking threat and a bit of identity. We had pace, power and it gave us a platform to try and play off. The three of them worked really hard and if they keep putting in that effort and workrate, they'll get their rewards.
You've played a front three of sorts before, with two number 10s, but that was a different front three wasn't it?
Yes it was an out and out front three. We tried to get pressure on them. The shape was pretty good. We tried to position them, so when the ball turned over, we could carry a threat. We looked dangerous on sets and we were big on sets. It was lots of different reasons.
First point on the board, how confident are you a goal isn't too far away?
You are looking at ticking things off, so first point, first away point, first clean sheet and now we have a clear week to take those building blocks into Saturday.
When play stopped in the second half, you spoke to Paul Godfrey (club secretary and director) what was going on then and what were your thoughts?
I sought out Paul because he's a really calm head and he knows all the rules and regulations, so if there was someone you were going to sound out in that scenario, it'd be Paul. I joked about it, but I've turned around and they've asked if there was anyone in the crowd and there was a fella behind me in hospitality with a lanyard on, obviously a Pompey fan and I don't know if he's just had four pints. Before I knew it, he's walking down the tunnel. So we needed some reassurance. Was he qualified, could they verify it and I asked the players what they wanted to do. To be fair, Longy (Sean Long) made a really good point, saying he's going to have to do the other end because he couldn't do the attacking end. Lessens the danger, then. Fair play to him because it obviously carries a worry and he did go and do the messiah to the Pompey fans, but I think he officiated it properly and with integrity and he was honest and fair.
Was he verified?
Yes, I spoke to the referee's assessor and they were in touch with Mike Jones, who could check the database to check he has some form of qualification. The worry was it was literally someone off the street to officiate in a League One game and weren't a million miles away from that.
