After a nine-goal thriller at Motspur Park, Mehmet Ali shared his thoughts on a spirited Premier League 2 performance which saw us lose 6-3 to Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
Despite goals from Ismail and Salah Oulad M’Hand before the break and a late goal from Khayon Edwards, the hosts took all three points.
Striker Aaron Loupalo-Bi netted a hat-trick, but Swiss midfielder Kristian Šekularac ran the show for the hosts, scoring two outstanding goals in the win.
On the performance...
“Yeah, it was a tough game, I feel like there were some brilliant moments from our lads today, we scored some really good goals. Having said that, some of the goals we gave away were poor, very avoidable goals from our perspective, so that’s really disappointing. Some of our lads’ decision-making in big moments was poor.
“But credit to Fulham, they were clinical, I think a lot of the shots they had were on target, they were always working our goalkeeper and at times they jumped and were aggressive and pressed well and they got their rewards from that.
“So yeah, disappointed, I felt like when we went 3-2 and 4-3 I always felt that we were in the game, we had a spell in the second half when it was 4-3 where I feel like we could’ve got something from the game and as the game went on I think our lads gave a lot. It was just disappointing to concede the goals towards the end.”
On having less experienced players in the squad today...
“(It was) very valuable, we have a no excuse policy and I thought our older boys did that so well today, some of the senior lads on the pitch, they really tried to look after some of the younger boys in the warm-up and what they did yesterday in training. Those younger lads will get a lot of valuable experience from what they saw today which was really good.
“In U21s football, you get that a lot and we’re really proud of that, seeing young players obviously doing well in our first team squad that have come from our academy and not only in our first team but also playing in the league.
“That’s a big pat on the back to everyone in the academy and that’s what we’re about, to keep pushing the players.”
On the progression of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri in the first team...
“It’s huge to see that if they’ve got that opportunity, one they’ve had that opportunity but two for them to go and take it, it gives the lads in the academy a massive incentive to keep working hard because you know that we’ve got a first team manager and first-team staff that keep an eye on the academy.
“They want to see the next one, that’s what the job’s about and for the players to feel that and understand that there’s a pathway if you’re good enough, of course, you have to earn it but it’s really valuable for them.”
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