Head coach Dean Smith and midfielder Ryan Woods have both spoken of their disappointment following an FA Cup third round exit at the hands of Walsall at the weekend.
Smith was making a speedy return to his former club as we hosted them at Griffin Park, but a goal from the visitors just after the half hour mark on the day was enough to decide who continued to be involved in the competition this year.
Speaking to the Official Site in his post game press interviews, the gaffer explained that bottom line – we hadn’t been good enough on the day.
‘We weren`t good enough in the first half. Second half is more what we`re about: more intensity. We`ve had enough chances really to get back into the game, if not get the replay and go on and win it but we didn`t take our chances. I said to the players the first half was unacceptable in terms of what we`re about and the intensity we play. It doesn`t matter who you play against. I know this Walsall team very well, they`re a good team and they showed that in the first half because we didn`t play at any sort of intensity that we need too.’
Admitting that the festive fixtures may have taken more out of players than he had originally thought – whilst not using it as an excuse for the loss – he did say that possibly he made too many changes and that was why we struggled for a flow in the game.
‘I`ll look at myself and maybe whether it was too many changes and the change of system. But you put Alan Judge on half-time and then all of a sudden there`s a spring in our step, winning the ball back in their half and pegging them back and their goalkeeper`s made some wonderful saves but I felt we should have done better with a number of other chances we had as well.’
As for Woods, he was also honest about the performance in his own post game interviews and he admitted that players were very down in the dressing room afterwards as they knew they should’ve done a lot better than they did.
‘The mood is really down to be honest. We really weren`t good enough in the first half and that is a massive shame for us. We were really up for it but we came out for it and weren`t good enough in the first-half. We knew we had to be better in the second-half, Dean didn`t have to say anything. In the second-half we had enough chances to win two games and it just wasn`t our night. We shouldn`t have been in the situation where we were behind but we just weren`t good enough. That is something that we need to put right on Tuesday. It is really disappointing to go out especially given the way that we went out.’
With Middlesbrough up next on Tuesday evening, Woods knew we had to look to bounce back now.
‘The Middlesbrough game takes on a bit of extra significance now. We have lost two in a row now and that is something that we haven`t done in a long time. We have to put that right. It will be a tough game on Tuesday against Middlesbrough but if we take the three points that will really show our intent of being in the Play-Offs. It is always a good thing to play quickly after a game like today. You want the good games to last forever but I would play another game tonight if I could to put things right. We have two big games now so we have to make sure that we are professional off the pitch because the games are coming thick and fast. We just have to make sure that we are ready and at our best for the games.’
Share this article
Related Articles
