Joey, I imagine you are satisfied with that performance today?
Yeah. We had our own mini targets about where we want to finish and we knew this would be a tough contest today against a highly-motivated Peterborough side with the division’s top scorer leading the attack.
We knew we had to defend properly in order to take anything out of the game and, as a team, certainly in the second period, we were excellent.
They have been free-scoring since Fergie came back and they carried the threat that Jonno always poses because he averages one goal every two games. You have to keep him in check and when they did manage to get anything there, the goalkeeper was there to make a couple of saves.
But I on the balance of play, I know they had to chase it in the second half, we had some really good opportunities in transition and on the counter. On the weight of chances, I think the better ones were ours and we’re a little bit frustrated we haven’t managed to put one in the back of the net and take all of the points.
You got yourself into some great positions, and it was just that last little bit of quality in the final third that was lacking today.
Yeah, and that’s what you pay for, it’s why Jonno (Clarke-Harris) and Azza (Collins) get all the plaudits, scoring goals and winning games and it’s sod’s law that you get the two most free-flowing scorers in the division and it ends up 0-0.
But you have to give credit to both defences and goalkeepers. They marshalled Azza really well and kept him to limited opportunities. The one he did get, I thought it was a great save from the keeper.
On the backside of that, I thought we marshalled Jonno really well and the couple of opportunities he had, he was offside. The linesman raised the flag, but the lads still defended it well and the goalkeeper was there when necessary.
You mentioned Ellery Balcombe coming back into the team. A clean sheet is going to do wonders for him, you’d think?
Yeah, and he hasn’t played for a while, so there was ring rust or whatever. I think a couple of things he did would have been ironed out with a bit of match sharpness.
He must’ve played well, our fans were singing his name at the end.
He’s done alright. I think he’s shown today, the length he kicks the ball makes a huge difference. We’re lucky, we’ve got some good goalkeepers here. James Belshaw is a good goalie, Jed Ward’s a good developing young goalie and Ellery is here on loan and he showed the reason we brought him here again today with that clean sheet.
It hasn’t quite gone to plan for him, but I think anyone in the stadium today will have seen he is a top prospect. He was excellent when required.
The defensive effort was all over the pitch. The effort from the strikers to come back and press was really important, but the back four, dealing with someone like Clarke-Harris, were really smart and did that really well.
Yeah, the first 20 minutes apart. We were a bit wary of their pace in the first 20 minutes and the backline was just dropping a fraction and it was causing problems for the midfield. We adjusted that on the fly and we got a chance to adjust at half time. They controlled the spaces really well.
You have to give credit to James Gibbons and Sam Finley. They picked up early yellow cards and played on that edge with fantastic discipline.
Our shape was really good today and is the bedrock of if we want to compete like Peterborough and be in with a chance of promotion in the last few games of the season. You have to have that solid chin if you want to be in with a chance of promotion in the last few games of the season and it’s a learning process, but I thought the lads were excellent today.
After three straight defeats, Joey, to have a response like that when they are clearly up for the battle in a game that doesn’t mean a great deal in terms of the league table, that must be a satisfying reminder of the quality of your group?
Yeah, we try to win every game. You know motivation and teams down at the bottom can pull out barmy results because their intention changes. The fact they are not going to get paid the same amount next year or get a relegation or let the club down, it brings out that extra edge in them.
Good players find that extra edge when there are 40 games to go in the season. Players sometimes need to have their focus narrowed by what’s at stake in the last few games to get that intention.
I challenged the lads about being solid and making it difficult for them. We knew we would get chances on the counter because they were going to have to chase the game.
As I say, the lads from front to back played their part superbly and it was a really competent team performance, the only thing missing was a goal and winning the game.
You can see the development of individuals coming along, like Lewis Gordon. He was a very raw prospect when you took him on at the start of the season, but he’s matured a lot from the experiences he’s had and it shows on a day like today against a good attack in a quite desperate scenario when they need to win to get in the play-offs. He stands up to that challenge.
He’s a young player developing nicely in our team. I spoke to him during the game about stuff we’ve got to work on with him, which he will find even more potential in him.
But for a player to come out of Brentford’s B-team and have his first season in senior football in League One, I think he has acquitted himself superbly.
You are the same as me, you’ve watched him all season and seen him growing and growing into the game.
Even in the last embers, I know he was offside, but using his body just to make it difficult for Jonson Clarke-Harris, that is something he has developed via playing men’s football and senior games.
The possibilities for some of our younger players are enormous, but you have got to respect this craft and work really hard at your game every single day. Lo and behold, if you do that, good things happen and in the modern era now, people give you about £300,000 a week.
There was a strange incident off the ball with Dan Butler and Ryan Loft. What was your view of it because it looked for a moment like it could be a couple of red cards because they were scrapping away on the floor for a little bit?
It’s too far away from me. I didn’t have my glasses on and it’s tricky for me to see.
Dan Butler’s probably the luckiest man in the stadium, judging on his physicality and Loft’s physicality. I fancy my chances against 95 per cent of human beings, but Ryan Loft isn’t one of them.
Sometimes, you’ve got to know when someone’s got a bigger artillery than you and, luckily for Dan Butler, Ryan kept his discipline and just held him to the floor. They were holding each other to the ground.
I think the ref handled it superbly. Two yellow cards and ‘Stop being silly, boys, get on with playing football’.
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