|
JP
What did you make of today's match?
GA
Obviously a big disappointment that we couldn't keep the decent run we have got going, take the defeat out at Bournemouth and things have been going OK. Probably today was a big opportunity for people to come in and show us what they can do, and sometimes people have to take them and not be too disappointed if they don't, and things change after that.
But, we want a squad with depth and we want a squad that has got the 20 in it, I believe in them and I want them to believe in themselves. I want them to be able to come in when asked and perform and give a really good performance to keep our momentum and our quality going. I thought today in the first-half we didn't get that, we were well below par.
I thought that it was a game that if we got out of the traps quickly and got at Peterborough then we would cause them problems. But, we never really kept the ball well enough and passed it well enough and were aggressive enough and positive enough on the ball.
That enabled them to get in the game and dominate us and they probably got their goal when they deserved to. As much as we tried to claw it back and had really good chances we couldn't do that, and the first-half probably has killed us.
JP
What did you make of the goal itself? It seemed a very scruffy one and one that perhaps could have been avoided?
GA
Yeah, it is one of them that we have probably been used to not conceding. We have got out of that habit but it was a soft one, but there we are, we have got to get over that, that does happen now and again but it is not what we are pleased about.
At the other end we feel that we had enough to get one, I think if we had got one then we would have got two but we couldn't quite do it. But, maybe that is a testimony of our chasing the game after the first-half.
JP
You talk about not taking the chances, some players who were involved in that first-half. You sacrificed your wingers (Matty Robson and Ben Marshall), they were unstoppable on Tuesday night against Hartlepool, it just didn't quite seem to happen this weekend?
GA
That's right.
JP
What did you think it was about today's match then that they couldn't quite deliver in the way they did four days ago?
GA
I think you have just got to have a real strong, positive mental attitude in everything you do, and take responsibility. We didn't do that and even on Tuesday night we created a lot from down the middle to be perfectly honest with you, and we were expecting even a little bit more.
At half-time, even on Tuesday night, we said we wanted more from the wide areas, work with the ball and without the ball. We probably first-half today looked like that type of team we were last year, struggling to find any passing, struggling to find any appetite for attacking football.
You have to look at that long and hard and think which is the right way for us to play. We don't want to be predictable, we don't want to be set in stone - we have to play that way or that way. We want to use our wide players because I think they are terrific players.
I think Ben is a good player, Matty obviously last season was terrific, we want to see them and we want to try to keep encouraging them that in certain games that is the way we are going to go. When we do go that way we want a real product from them, we really do want a response and I don't think we quite got it today.
JP
Yourself and your assistant manager Graham Kavanagh were talking to the two men who came on before half-time actually. Was it always that clear-cut for you that you needed to change things around?
GA
Obviously, when people come on they need to know what is going on. We were looking at it after half an hour thinking we were second best to be honest. When you are like that so early on in the game it doesn't really matter, you need to do something about it.
So, we left it to half-time, James (Berrett) could have got a goal just before half-time and then we would have been fine. I still would have made the change, I thought it was the right thing to do on the day, and second-half the performance proved it. We just missed the goals and they are vital.
JP
On killer instinct wasn't it because it was a complete turn-around, it was like the two roles had swapped in the second-half. You created lots of chances but you missed some big ones?
GA
We have conceded a soft one, missed some big ones, it is like season 2009-10 record isn't it. But, we will get over it, we will dust them down, they are a terrific group of lads and we have done, we have put our bits and pieces forward there, well I certainly have, and there has been not much response to what we have been saying.
So, I think they have taken it on the chin, you have to take criticism when it is due, you have to take the praise when it is due. But, the response was something we asked for after half-time, we got that. I thought Craig Curran was exceptional when he came on in terms of his energy and he doesn't want to be out of the team, he showed me that today.
There is a real determination in that player's game and he is probably someone for everybody to look forward to that has been in and out of the team, and he is on the fringes of the squad. You must produce that type of spirit and determination, which he did when he came on.
JP
Gary Madine had the midas touch of course on Tuesday, superhuman almost in the way he took his goals. Today he did have two big chances, I suppose that just shows that he is only a young lad?
GA
Well, that happens, strikers miss chances. Look at Charlie Austin here a couple of weeks ago for Swindon, he is probably the best finisher in the division at the moment and he couldn't make it happen.
So, it does happen, just dust yourself down, it is just unfortunate that it happens on a day when we had nil. It would have been alright if he had missed one of those on Tuesday and we had won 3-0 and he could have saved one for today, but that happens.
JP
I know you were keen to highlight your goal difference going into this game and it was obviously excellent after that great run in the week. But, one fan has been in touch tonight to say it is three home games now since we have seen a goal here, it is something that I am sure you will want to work on?
GA
You are right, he is absolutely right, it is something we will have to work on, I don't want to score nil. The chances we had today, again, I can't be too critical because we have had chances and missed them.
If it had been one of the drab games from last season, where we didn't make anything and didn't look like we were going to score then you would be really, really upset. I am upset we haven't scored but I am pleased that we have created chances, but they have got to go in. The fan is right to be a little bit disgruntled with that statistic, I am not best pleased with it myself.
JP
And another statistic that came out of the game was that your first actual shot on target, making the goalkeeper (Joe Lewis) work was the 85th minute. He looked a little bit, with some of the balls you got in there like he could have been got at, is that something that disappoints that you didn't work him enough?
GA
You have been searching for some good statistics for me again haven't you, that is the game, yeah. We have got to work the goalkeeper, it is as simple as that. You are not creating any new stuff in football, it is a well known fact that if you don't get shots on target, you don't work goalkeepers, you don't get players in the box, then you won't score goals.
But, James Chester's header, I wouldn't say it was a half-chance even, I just think it is one he will be ruing, I was. Gary's second-half, the amount of headers we got blocks on that people got in the way. Maybe a little bit of credit to them for the way they have defended rather than being too critical with ourselves.
JP
What do you make of them? Do you think they will be one of those teams at the end of the season?
GA
They have certainly got goals in them but you have seen the second-half when we started to play somewhere like we can. We turned them over really and they are only a normal side, we keep talking about belief and our players believing they can be as good as the best and strongest teams in this division. On the balance of the game probably a draw was a fair result, I wouldn't say they were better than us. They were certainly first-half but they certainly weren't second.
JP
I can't argue with that. Coming up then, we are in the middle of a run of three home games, well not quite in the middle but we are a third of the way through them. How do you approach the game on Tuesday night? Will you tinker a little bit there given that is the first round or the first round for you of the Johnstone's Paint?
GA
Listen, I will digest today first and I will have a look at that over the weekend. I will think long and hard about what I think is the right thing to do and then we will go with that.
JP
And any injuries coming out of today's game? Anyone looking a doubt?
GA
No, I think they are all fine.
JP
And you will find out tomorrow I think you were telling us regarding Lubomir Michalik?
GA
Yeah, I will try to speak to him tonight on my way home actually and see what the diagnosis is. Because he has had three days or four days for it to settle down and hopefully that is good news because he is a big player for us.