Why can’t you play like that every week?
Well we are trying to improve, get better and I think we have between games one, two and three. I think tonight we took our chances and that made a big difference. Scoring goals makes a big difference and we missed too many of them in the other games that altered the outcome.
Big credit to the players tonight for the effort they put in. We scored three and maybe we should have had another but VAR says it’s not a goal. But we done a really good job.
Was that the best performance since you came back?
We had a record win against Southampton, we beat Bournemouth at the start when I came back in, I think our form at home has not gone to plan but the games we should have won, we have put on a good show.
We are trying to improve our home form, obviously we want to win more away as well but was it our best performance? I think it was a good performance. I think we can play better.
We didn’t pass the ball well in the first half, we got better in the second half and I thought we were worthy of getting something out of the game tonight.
Called for the forwards to step up, some performance from Michai Antonio
He has been great for us at the moment but being without Seb [Haller] at the moment we are short of options and alternatives to Mick. I have to say, Mick stuck to the task.
When I came in he was still recovering from hamstring injuries and we were worried if we could get 90 minutes out of him but he’s doing a great job for the team.
Against the better teams it's hard to have two forwards as they can play through you, he is doing a great job for us and gets his reward with a goal tonight and he had a great chance in the first half when I thought ‘here we go.’
Has Andriy Yarmolenko proved his worth to you tonight?
When I arrived he wasn't fit and didn’t train so I have only seen him in training after lockdown, he trained every day and did a lot of good things.
Meanwhile, we signed Jrrod Bowen who plays in his position and has had a very good start to his time here. I’ve had a chance to see Yarma tonight, he gives me good competition. Tonight, Jarrod made one and Yarma scored one so I am pleased for both of them tonight.
Can you talk us through the VAR decision? Were your players fired up with a sense of injustice?
I know I was.
I felt angry at the time. Too many small decisions are going against us and it didn’t feel right at the time. I have to say that the boys didnt let it affect them.
We wanted them to play better in the second half than they did in the first and we thought we could do as well and they did. We tried not to let it affect us.
There is nothing we can do. You somehow hope that along the road, with the handball against Sheffield United, the decision at Tottenham, the one tonight, you hope that somewhere something goes for you but at the moment, I can’t think of anything that has gone for us with the VAR.
Will this be a turning point in the season?
Well, one win is not enough. It’s only one win, we have to win more if we are to remain a Premier League club but picking up wins was going to be hard. You all understood the difficulty of these first three games against Wolves, Spurs and Chelsea.
Then you saw how Chelsea played against Man City in midweek and they were outstanding but this was an outstanding performance by our players and result.
