#PLStories- Graham Potter on Conor Gallagher issue, ‘exciting’ Chukwuemeka and Chelsea draw in last game #ChelseaFC
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Graham Potter Brighton
How is Conor Gallagher?
I haven’t spoken to the doctor, but he just felt ill. He felt like he was going to be sick. You could probably see that in his first 15 minutes, he wasn’t quite himself, so hopefully, it’s just a 24-hour thing, and he will be okay. Obviously, that probably affected him and us a little bit, but hopefully, he recovers quickly.
What did you make of the game?
I thought over the course of the game, a point was fair. They had chances, and we had chances. We pushed and pushed at the end. Probably, more likely at the end to score, but at the same time, over the course of the game, a point was about right. They make it very difficult for you to control. They do what they do really well. Use the front two, set pieces, long throws, balls into the box, and long balls that make it unstable. I have full respect for them, and how they do that, they do it really well. Not easy. It’s another clean sheet for us. The positives are a clean sheet and a point. That’s four points from two away matches which is positive. When we did control it, we did it quite well, but it’s a point, and we have to move on.
Carney Chukwuemeka has been involved in a few matchday squads. What made you think he was ready for an extended Premier League appearance?
Well, if you look at these attributes, he’s a big powerful boy that can run and run away from people, and in a game like Brentford, you’re often in duels and need physicality, and I thought he and Christian did well when they came on. They affected the game. That was just the thinking. He’s a young player, but he’s got exciting attributes. We just need to help him reach his potential because his potential is exciting.
Armando Broja got his first start. What did you see that led you to that?
You saw two or three actions in the first half, which were what he’s about. He can attack space where if there’s a big space behind, he can give you that possibility. Brentford presses high, and they leave space behind, so Armando, we felt we could use him, and we did it two or three times, but we probably wanted to do it more than we did. I thought he did okay for his first game, quite well. Obviously, because it was his first game, we thought 60 minutes was about the maximum for him but overall happy with him.
The incident at the end of the penalty, what did you think?
Yeah, I didn’t see it, to be honest, and you ask the fourth official, and he said it’s been checked. So it’s been checked. I haven’t looked it back.
You didn’t bring on Aubameyang to the final 10 minutes, were you tempted to bring him on sooner?
Yeah, of course, but I know the reasons why. Again, it’s the load of him, he’s played a lot, and it gives the chance for Kai to score and play, and we were close with that. Yeah, I understand the question.
There weren’t a lot of goals left on the pitch after Conor Gallagher went off. Do you need one or two more players who have more goals in them?
Well, I always look at the team and try to get the team functioning better rather than zooming into individuals. I understand the question, but I would rather look at the team and try and help the team attack better. It’s not easy against Brentford because if you don’t attack well, quickly, it’s in your backline, and you have to control a mess which is difficult to do because they’ve got physicality, and that’s how they make the came unstable. We were close with Mase, close with Kai, but we can improve in that area.
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