David Moyes
Team news?
Not really. We’re still hoping Lanzini can be improve and be better. Still carrying a knock from car crash unfortunately. He’s been training but is ginger in everything he’s doing. We’re hopeful he’ll be much closer to playing.
Any new thoughts on Cresswell red?
Nah. I don’t really want to talk about the referee’s decisions. Nothing else to say about it.
Thoughts on Dembele wink?
Not seen it. In the end football comes around. It’s a strange thing, football. You need to be careful. But I’ve not seen it.
Balancing competitions still tricky?
Thursday and Sunday has always been difficult whether it’s us or any clubs. It’s a difficult one with quick turnaround but I’ve to give great praise to the players for how they’ve coped with it for the majority of the season. We’re still in Europe in April. Great credit to the players. We want to stay there but to be in Europe you have to do well in the Premier League. So our focus is solely on Brentford.
Brentford have momentum after Chelsea win?
Brentford are a good side. They came up and had a good first year consolidating in the Premier League. They’ll be pleased with how they’ve deone. A great result in Chelsea last week but all we can do is concentrate on ourselves and get ready for another big game.
Top four – how do you view the race now?
It’s always difficult to break into the top four because of the quality of teams. If we can keep around the European positions it would be great. We had our first season of European games and Premier League games and we’re having a good go at it. We’re making a good fist of it but we now have a lot of focus on the next league game. We have to get prepared and ready for Brentford.
Are teams becoming better at coping with fatigue from Thursday-Sunday games?
We were able to cope because we split our team quite often in earlier rounds and everyone played. Sometimes that can work for you, sometimes it can’t. That helped us a little bit in the early months of the season. Now getting into knockout games you’re more liable to play all your main players to get results and that’s where it starts to take a toll. We’re still enjoying it.
Tottenham defeat after Sevilla shows challenge?
It was a completely different game against an in-form side at the time. They are the difficulties you get with being in the Europa League because you have to get yourself ready for the games.. It’ll be the same, we have to get ready for Brentford, be prepared and give ourselves every chance of getting a result. The resilience of players for most of the season has been very good. Long may that continue.
Tell us more about Jarrod, almost doubled his goal tally from last season?
We’ve needed him, we’ve missed his goals when he’s not been here. I think he’s played well for someone who’s just back. We need that to continue. We need to keep scoring.
Praise for Brentford?
They’ve done a great job. We’ve been looking at them at just missing out on Premier League over a couple of seasons. They know exactly how they play. They’ve changed a little bit in what they do to stay up. They look as if they will be safe, no problem with that. It’s been a really good job. They have a good model, a club that’s worked on the way they want to go. They need a lot of praise for what they’ve done. Staying in the Premier League isn’t easy when you look at the quality of teams and challenges you’ve got. They’re doing a really good job.
