How delighted are you after a tough game?
I thought we did really well. I thought there were signs of our football improving, especially as the game went on. You could see the strength in the squad starting to come. You could see what we had on the bench and what we could bring on and what was required. We needed some saves from our keeper, but you are in Europe away from home. it was always going to be the case that we would have some moments that we might be under pressure but we missed some really big opportunities to be out of sight and probably should have scored more goals.
Is that all that was missing? Being clinical?
We had big moments and chances and then we had opportunities to make chances and we didn’t do that well enough so that was disappointing but Anderlecht hadn’t conceded a goal in the group so was always going to be pretty tight and quite difficult. That was the way it proved to be.
Another goal for GianlucaScamacca – how much better is he getting?
When he came on he helped us, and actually the three players in different ways who came on gave us a different feel. The players who started did a good job apart from the final third so Gianluca got that opportunity and hit the target with it and got it in the corner. It was really important. We still have to play them again next week. We aren’t in the dressing room shouting and waving flags because we respect we have to play them again.
Is heshowing he has the ability to be yourfirst-choicestriker?
I want strikers who are competitive against each other and that will score. at the moment Gianluca is the one who is getting the moments and getting the goals. he is getting one or two opportunities in a game and he is taking them. We really need it as our goal numbers are not as good as they should be. we have scored three in the other games and tonight we should have scored three as well but we didn’t. Gianluca came on and got that important goal.
Said Benrahma looks close to big chances but failed to take them. How close is he to being the player you want him to be?
We like him a lot, we think a lot of him. We’re pushing him and we’re working him to continue hitting the target. We see some things which we think he should be doing more, he should be hitting the target more often, he’s missing the goal too often. Tonight was a typical example. If he wants to really be competitive, he can be. Can he play at this level? 100 per cent he can play here and he can be an impact player, he can make an influence in the games. When you get those opportunities, you need to take them.
When the draw was made, was the matches the Anderlecht you deemed as the bigger games you had?
Yes, I would’ve expected Anderlecht to be tough games. I’ve got to say, we found Silkeborg a tough opponent, Steaua Bucharest a little bit in change where they are. We want to do a job and I want to be in Europe after Christmas time, that is the first thing. We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position at the moment, but obviously we’ve still got three games to go and we have to try and probably get another win at least to get a chance of qualifying.
If you win next week, it puts you close to qualifying and in top spot. Is that the message to the players?
I’ve said to the players, we have another game against them next week so don’t take anything for granted. We’ve got no celebration, we’ve won a difficult game tonight away in Europe which is really good. You might disprove me later tonight, but I don’t think teams are not winning by lots of goals in Europe, I don’t see anybody winning big and games are pretty tight. Tonight was pretty tight as well. We had probably such a strength in our bench, we were able to change it when we thought we needed to and the players coming on made a big difference.
Is the fact you made nine changes and were still able to field a strong side a testament to the squad you have?
This is what I’ve really wanted and I think in the opening games, we may have made more changes but because we’ve been short, we’ve been short of central defenders, we’re still trying to bring Angelo [Ogbonna] back to a level we think he should be at, we were introducing one or two players, the idea was that we were going to be strong so that we could give people more time to prepare for the Premier League games at times. The games are hard and have been tough. I’m not going to give the games up in midweek, I’m not going to give up the games in Europe, I want to win and I want to qualify.
Does the summer feel like a transformative one?
I believe it will make a huge difference. I wouldn’t say we’ve taken any risks, but we knew we had a big summer. The players who had left, the numbers, we had to do what we did, buy players who can keep us competitive. We’ve still got to improve that. But I think in time all the players we’ve signed will prove to be good ones. We’ve signed good international players, and I’m hoping they can show what they’ve got.
What did you make of Flynn Downes’ performance?
Flynn Downes played really well tonight. I thought him and Jarrod (Bowen) were really good. And the goalkeeper made a couple of great saves. But Flynn has given is something to think about. He’s only just starting to get the feel of it in training, he’s beginning to get used to what we want. He did a really good job tonight, Flynn.
What was the thinking behind benching Declan Rice?
He was always not playing. I’d made a decision after the game at the weekend that he wasn’t going to start. He played two full games for England. He played for us, and we won, so to turn him back out again is really too difficult — even for someone [like Rice]. I’m not saying if we had needed to win, I wouldn’t have done it, but the Thursday-Sunday football is something we are really having to think about if we’re going to have a go at doing as well as we can in the Premier League.
Is it great as a manager to had the quality you had tonight at your disposal?
It was like bringing on three star acts. We’re still getting used to Gianluca and Paqueta, but you could see right away the lift we got. We kept the ball better, we were more detailed in our work. I thought we had become a little bit predictable in how we played. The boys made a difference. Last season we didn’t really have another centre forward. Tonight we played Jarrod as a second striker and I think we can see signs of Jarrod coming back into form.
