What did you make of the game?
I thought the last half an hour or so was probably a better representation of what we want to be about. For whatever reason the shackles came off and we looked a bit more like ourselves. For the first hour it wasn’t a classic, put it that way.
It was a cagey game overall really wasn't it?
Yes it was a really cagey game and we knew it’d come down to a moment and unfortunately we were on the wrong end of that moment. Before that, ironically enough without having the bulk of the game we probably had the better chances and in the last half an hour we took the ball and played with a bit more intent and I thought we were good. The challenge from us is to have that mindset from the off.
It was a messy goal to give away, wasn't it?
Yes. It was a messy goal to give away. I have watched it back and we'll break it down on Monday, but there are likely with any goal five or six avenues where you can pinpoint and say we could have stopped it there or done this or that differently. Disappointing to lose a game in that manner.
You changed to 4-4-2 in the second half, which seemed to give you a lift
Yes, we were really good. I don't know if that's the system, or just the shackles coming off, or it was the goal. All of a sudden we started doing the basics better. Passing the ball with a bit more zip, landing on seconds more than we had done in the first hour or so and we looked a little less tentative than we did. I can live with that, if we are having a go and we play on the front foot, I can take losing. If the 90 minutes had been like the first hour, I'd have felt we'd lost with a bit of a whimper, but the message to the lads was that there is a certain manner I can accept it.
Can you put your finger on why it was tentative for that first hour?
I'd be speculating. First game of the season, up and down the country teams will be wondering where they are at and individuals will be wondering where they're at. Similar systems, we knew it'd be a cagey game, but you saw in the last 20 minutes of half an hour, they believed in themselves a little bit more and that's the level they are capable of. The challenge now is to bring that regularly.
Rob Street was a bit unlucky on a couple of occasions, denied by some good defending on his debut
Yes, they had more of the ball in the first half, but they didn't do loads with it if I am being totally honest. We didn't do loads with it either, but we ended up landing on the better chances and on another day the moment goes for us and the game plays out completely differently. It didn't quite pan out like that.
How is Elliot Bonds?
It's far, far too early to know. I can't get into medical areas as I'd be giving you wrong information. To be fair to Curtis Thompson, I didn't really want to throw him in for that long, but once he got up to the speed of the game he settled in and you can see why we brought him in.
Oli Hammond went on and was bright on his debut as well
Yes, I thought he did really well, so they were two positives. We will get better and stronger.
A record set by Tom King, who is now Cheltenham Town's youngest EFL player
One thing Kingy can do is land on a chance. You saw in pre-season he has a knack of navigating the penalty area and knowing where the ball is going to land and sniffing it out. The last five or six minutes, I thought if balls were going in there he'd be a good one for something to land to. I was praying with the one at the end when Marosi came for it, Kingy was right there waiting for it to land and it didn't quite come.
One game, so is the message now not to panic and that there are plenty more games to go?
Yes, certainly don't panic. I've just said to the lads, Birmingham, Bolton, it doesn't get any easier. But we have to scrap, fight and get to our level and you never know where your points are going to come from. We have to make sure that we put the best possible version of ourselves forward every game because you just don't know where your points are going to come from and we learned that last season.
Tough ask for Curtis Thompson to come on before half-time after so little football. Did you take him off due to tiredness, or was it tactical to get Tom King on the pitch?
He was on a booking and we are settling into the new rules, where it is so easy to get a yellow card at the minute. When we were looking to make changes, that was one of the factors that came into it.
How impressed have you been with Tom King's progress?
He's done well and so has Ibby Olateju. After Aidan (Keena) and Streety (Rob Street), Kingy and Ibby are the next forwards we have got. Last five minutes, if there were balls going into the box, Kingy might be a good option for something to land to. He is 16 years old, so we are not hanging our hat on him by any stretch, but he has attributes we want to develop and give opportunities to.
How close are Will Ferry and George Lloyd to being in contention?
Lloydy, probably not so much. Fez, hopefully a little bit sooner.
Is the front of the team the obvious priority for strengthening now?
We've always been looking at that area and we are in lots of conversations, but we learned from last season it's a competitive market, loan centre forwards. We have four good centre forwards and you can't legislate for where your injuries come. It seems to be a freak of fate. Last season we had a run of injuries on the left hand side, this season we have a couple at centre forward. It is as it was, it is a priority, but it was anyway.
Did you pick up a yellow card and if so, what was that for?
I knocked the ball back, but I am not allowed to leave the box to do that. I thought the whole point was to speed the game up, so I'll have to get a good grasp on it all. It seems a bit contradictory. I was a yard from the ball boy and we were meant to have multiball. If the fourth official had enforced multiball properly, I wouldn't have had to have left the box and got booked. I am sure it'll settle down after the first few weeks.
The amount of added time was nearly 14 minutes at the end, which is another thing to get used to
Yes, I understand why they are doing it because they want the ball in play more and the game to be quicker. Everyone is for that, but we need to give it a few weeks and assess where we are with it and hopefully there will be a sensible approach to how we are implementing the rules.
Birmingham City at home on Tuesday in the EFL Cup next up and one to look forward to?
Yes, it'll be a good game. We'll have a look at them again today, because we played them pre-season but I am sure going into the league it's a little bit different. The games come thick and fast now, which is good.
