On defensive stability
“Our shape of the team starts from the front. I thought Conor [Carty] and Owen Hesketh did the defending job up front together as a pair, which allows the gaps to be smaller between the units, which meant it was more difficult for the opponents to get through you.
“The boy [Abu Kamara] got in nicely through the middle of the pitch, probably the only time they’d got through the middle of us, and he tucked it away well, which made it a nervy last seven or eight minutes.
“But I thought we did it very well and the backline were progressive and high with their timing and we did it well.”
On under-23s featuring on the bench in the Premier League
“In some ways, you hope it affects the under-23s. If you’re not on the bench, then you can’t get on the pitch. Then it’ll be the gaffer’s decision to whether to use all nine, or he could use seven or eight, but I think he’ll use them if they’re doing well enough.
“It’s always nice when you’re watching a first-team game, we’ll get on the bus to go home now and watch the first-team game, and hope to see some of the under-23s players in and around it, which is great for our players, to know there is an opportunity there.
“It may have an effect which weakens us slightly and then there’s also the loans in January which will affect that.
“You’ve got to get the players who need it out on loan for the second-half of the season, but then that will give the opportunity for younger ones to come through. It’ll be a tougher second-half of the season, but it’s nice to end the first-half on three wins.”
On giving players league experience
“I think we’ll have players going out on loan, but I don’t know who, as I don’t know which clubs will want them.
“You’ve got players like TP [Taylor Perry], Theo [Corbeanu] and Mertian [Shabani] who look ready to play above this level. Meri’s a good player who needs challenging, so he’s ready for a loan.
“TP’s in a similar boat, he’s had a good first half to the season, and there’s others. You look at Lewis Richards etc, who can all play at league level.
“Nuno and Scott [Sellars] will decide who is ready, who needs it, who he needs around his group, and then we’ll deal with who we have remaining, and that gives younger ones an opportunity.”
On plans for the coming weeks
“It’s been intense since we came back from the Covid restart and players haven’t had a chance to go home because of that. Normally they have a few days to do that, but we’ve had to keep them around in a very strict Covid bubble which has been difficult, but that’s how it is for everyone.
“I think it’ll be really nice to hopefully get them home because there were one or two worried when the new restrictions and rules were announced at the weekend. We have a few boys from different parts of the world, so hopefully we can get them home and let them have a great Christmas.
“Some will obviously stay and train with the first-team, which is terrific for them, and then we’ll come back in early new year and go again.”
