Have you seen the sending off for Wilfried Zaha yet?
I’ve just come through all the press interviews so not had the opportunity to see it. We’re disappointed because it made it such a difficult afternoon after a bright start. We were comfortable and OK with our start. It’s a difficult place to come to, especially with their current form at home. Of course, going down to ten men made it difficult. In the second half, we showed a lot of character and discipline to make sure they didn’t run away with it.
How many are missing with Covid-19?
I don’t know exactly how many were out with Covid. Some were returning with Covid, we had injuries and so on. But ultimately you saw that we were short of options on the bench today. The preparation has gone very well from a coaching point of view, in our bubble, focusing on the game. We’ve tried to get on with it the best we can.
Talk us through preparation for the game?
This morning we met at the hotel to prepare. Most of the time we would do that the previous evening, but it’s difficult to do that these days with the situation as it is and so much uncertainty. As a bubble we do as we’re told, prepare the best we can and we managed to do that this morning as we would normally before coming to the stadium. We’re professional, we have to adapt, adjust, sometimes at short notice. It’s something that we have to live with, I’m sure there’ll be other rollercoaster weeks in the future.
Patrick Vieira missing, when did you know?
Yesterday evening the results came through. The good thing about the way we prepare is we do that as a collective, the whole coaching staff work very closely together. It’s true to say everything ran like normal, but Patrick not being there as our leader being there on the day was something we will miss as we need him there. We got on with it the best we could, we didn’t want to make any excuses and we started well.
Proud to be leading the team?
I’m proud to be working for Cyrstal Palace and for this wonderful club. I’ve enjoyed every minute since I’ve been here. I’ve never thought for one minute about myself. It’s all about the team and staff and doing as much as we can that the players don’t feel too much of a factor that the boss isn’t here. Nothing to do with me but always proud to be working for such a wonderful club.
Covid had an effect on the result?
Who knows. All we know is that we started well in the game and then we conceded two goals. In any game, in any part of the season, if that was to happen it’ll always be difficult, down to ten men makes it even more difficult. I don’t know if it had an impact. What we do know is after a good week of preparation we didn’t get anything out of the game.
AFCON players leaving soon?
The three will go to AFCON. It’s a major tournament so we respect that and they’re very proud to play. We are not sure when everybody is going to leave, there’s an ongoing discussion between the players and the federations and managers. We are still seeking clarification on when they will go. Some may go earlier than others. It will depend a little bit on their planning going into the tournament so we’ll wait and see on that. Of course, we know that they will be going whether it’s earlier or later, we’ll know in the next few days. But we knew this was coming. We feel that we’ve got players that can step in and are ready to step in. There’ll be an opportunity for some players to be stepping into the team and make the most of their opportunities.
Contacted Vieira during the game?
We had a communication strategy for the game. I wasn’t directly in contact with him but the staff were. There was a good comms strategy to make sure we were always in contact.
Happy for Nathan Ferguson debut?
Really pleased for Nathan as he’s been working hard behind the scenes for a long period of time. Now he’s been integrated into the first team for a few weeks. We’ve liked what we’ve seen, he’s worked hard and deserved his opportunity today. We know there’s a lot to come from him and we look forward to him being an integral part of the group.
