Curtis, that was very good until 2-0 and you must have been very pleased up to that point but you just seemed to make it very hard for yourself…
Yes, we do. I think it’s something we’ve talked about, it’s the elephant in the room. We concede goals at times when we’re comfortable in the game and at 2-0 I’m looking for the third. We had a couple of chances to make it three. Would it have been as comfortable? I don’t know.
I thought the penalty looked very harsh to me. He’s [Timm Klose] jumped and he’s put his body in but he’s 6ft5”, it’s very hard to move at that size. I thought that stuff brought them into the game and gave them a little bit of confidence.
It was very important that we’ve conceded late goals and we need sheer bloody mindedness to keep the ball out of the net. The three points is the same whether it’s 3-0 or 3-1, it doesn’t matter. You need to keep the ball out of the net and I thought we deserved the three points. We were hanging on and we made it very hard for ourselves.
It’s quite funny because the lads do the teamtalk after. I walk in and they’re all going, ‘we made that hard for ourselves’ so I think the three points was important, very important three points for the table look as well.
We can be better, we’ve played better and gotten nothing so I think if you’d said to me after the game that we’d get three points and a 2-1, I probably would have taken it.
Nigel was in London wasn’t he, did he get back for any of the game?
No, he gets out tomorrow morning and then he’ll be back at the club. I spoke to him a couple of times but not since the game, I’ll call him as soon as I’m finished.
I think it was a good fillip for him, the performances over the last five or six weeks have been a lot better. On Saturday we let ourselves down a little bit with the performance level but we’re growing and we have a belief.
We played some really good stuff tonight and even if we were hanging on a little bit it’s a 96 minute game and we’ve played quite well at times tonight and could have got another goal.
We’ve got to take the positives and look at the negatives.
Antoine Semenyo is getting talked about more and more and you can see why…
There’s no doubt about it he’s a good player but he can get better. There’s things like his reactions when the balls breaking around, Nigel has played him in his position that he loves when I don’t think other managers had the belief in playing him there and the gaffer has now given him the belief that he can hurt teams but I think he’s got the three musketeers with Andi (Weimann) and Chris (Martin), they bounce off each other very well.
He's a good player but he’s got a way to go and I look forward to working with him next season.
Timm Klose had a really good game, he looks a good recruit, and he will have impressed a lot of people…
Isn’t it great? He’s been training with Basel and he was a free agent but he’s been promoted to the Premier League, he’s a 33-year old international. I think that sometimes people count age as a hindrance and that it’s a young man's game, sometimes you can’t get the experience.
You can be a very fit 23-year old and do everything but maybe not read the game as well or make the right decisions when you should do and he’s shown tonight that he has the experience and he’s going to get better.
He's played 60 minutes for Basel’s Under-23s over the last six weeks and you’re thrown into the hustle and bustle of the Championship. For us he’s been a real bonus, he hurt his ankle in a tackle early in the game but he was desperate to stay on, isn’t that great?
Massengo looked desperate to stay on to be fair to him, what was the problem there?
He smashed his hip off the ground, it wasn’t from the tackle it was when he hit the ground. As a coach you’re saying just run it off. I haven’t got any degrees in physiotherapy or anything so I say just run it off but he’s such a good kid.
He tried to run it but as soon as he looks over and says it’s gone then you’re not going to question the attitude or determination so hopefully it’s not too bad and that he’ll be available for Sunday, we hope.
Joe Williams was pretty heroic, what were your thoughts on him in the last 15 minutes?
We spoke about him on the way into the game as the build up was going on. He’s a good player, Joe, the staff have done well. He’s had a few injuries, he’s come back and he’s broken down a little bit so they’re working now with him on a different build up and different exercises trying to get him game time.
Maybe we put him on a little too early and you’re hoping he’s going to be okay but there’s no doubt in his ability or his willingness to work for the team or put his foot in. At times he’s his own worst enemy because he’s crazy and he goes running around a bit, but you’d rather have that than someone who doesn’t.
I think he adds something to us and he’s going to be an important player for us. It’s a great option as a coach standing on the touchline when one of the lads who’s been doing really well for you has to come off early but you’ve got an able replacement in Joe, a good player, and again, I’m really happy for him.
Max O’Leary did well and he stood up to the test, that must do his confidence a world of good?
No doubt. We’ve talked about him and the goals we concede. I’ve said that we concede goals as a team and sometimes a goalkeeper’s got to stand up and make that one wonderful save in a game and he made it. Thank god it was offside but we didn’t know.
It was great for him but I was so happy he came for the ball a couple of times. As much as his save, sometimes when you hear ‘keepers’ and he comes and catches when you’re under pressure. 87 minutes and you’re under pressure, trying to get out of your box and you can hear ‘keepers’, there’s no better sound. I’ve been there a couple of times and he did that.
He’s growing, there’s things he needs to work on like all the players, Han-Noah, Alex [Scott], they all need to work on something but they’re all lads who’re willing to work. They know they’re not the finished article so it’s great to go into training sessions and have people like that.
It was a surprise to not see Nahki Wells in the squad, was there a reason for his absence?
Yeah, Covid has reared its head again. He tested positive a few days ago, we weren’t sure, he’s tested since. He should be back in the next couple of days. It’s amazing isn’t it, he taps one in and you think these goal scorers are an option to come on, some might hit him in the year when we need them but we didn’t have him.
The bench looked very young today, I was looking at them warming up, I don’t know if it was kids day out! Maybe get them some coke and crisps and bring them out. They’re good lads and it’ll be good to have Nahki back in like all the others.
Was it a concern how much pressure your team had to soak up?
Yes. There’s no doubt about it. We had the decision sometimes to really go but I think we can score every time. We don’t want to curb that enthusiasm to breaking play. If you’re a fan you probably love it, you’re thinking ‘wow this is end-to-end’ and as a coach you’re going absolutely crazy.
You think why aren’t we running it to the corner, why aren’t we taking another touch, why are we always trying to force the ball to score, a couple of times I thought we could have come out and played, but we forced the ball to try and get the goal.
It was very, very important for us to get three points and how we did it, there’s no doubt you want a perfect game but there’s not many perfect games in the Championship so it was very important to get the three points and for us, yes, were under pressure but if you look at the clips it’s one of those that if you look at it we’ll see where we can improve on that.
I said to them after the game that I’m so happy for the effort they put in and they got their rewards tonight because it’s about them.
The Callum O’Dowda substitution at the end, was that an injury?
Yes it was, he just tweaked something in his knee when he went up for a header and he came down. Again, I’m saying just run it off but Robbie Cundy has come on and a few weeks ago he’s coming back and probably thinking is he going to get another chance, now he gets a chance to make an appearance in the Championship.
I thought Jay (Dasilva) moved over to the left side seamlessly and Zak (Vyner) can play in at right wingback so it’s good for us.
Cam Pring felt a bit tired as well so it’s three forced substitutions, not tactical as such but it’s good to have the option of bringing those guys on.
How’s Dan Bentley been doing since he came back (from Covid)?
He’s fine. People were saying ‘what’s going to happen to the team?’ but he’s only been training a day fully and getting pushed so the Championship would be a bit like lying in your bed and being thrown into a washing machine.
It’s that crazy the Championship like we know but he’s been great and that’s honest because he’s still the club captain, he hasn’t lost that.
He backs Max every day and he helps him get better and he works and he’s waiting for his chance. As much as he’s helping, like any professional he wants to play the game so we know that he’s ready and able when or if the manager wants to make any changes.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
