In his post-match press conference, Scott Parker addressed the ups and downs of the Arsenal performance, and gave an update on the fitness of his squad.
You didn’t do much wrong but found yourselves 3-0 down?
I think that’s the main thing that comes out of the game today. I thought first half we played very well. I really liked us, I liked our intent, I like our way about us. We really put Arsenal under some pressure, but the key moments – like [Aboubakar] Kamara’s chance, or [Neeskens] Kebano at the back post – they’re the moments that you need to make count. In saying that, you need to make sure you defend a little bit better. I really liked us first half, but second half not so much. The second goal is really weak on our behalf – a set-play goal and a real weakness in terms of they load a lot of players underneath the bar and we just didn’t see much fight there at that moment. It was a poor goal to concede. In this division, if we’re expected to score three goals to win or get draws out of games, it’s going to be pretty tough for us, certainly against teams like Arsenal who have the quality they have. I think you’re right, there are some positives, but when you’re on a 3-0 loss there’s some negatives as well. We’ll dust ourselves down, keep improving and keep understanding where we need to get better, and go from there.
Aleksandar Mitrović started on the bench today – was that a case of fitness having just come back from international duty?
Yeah, fitness really. Aleks has had two training sessions since coming back from international duty. It was exactly the same for [Frank] Anguissa as well who’s been in quarantine. The same with [Mario] Lemina who’s not up to speed at this time. But this year, for sure, we’re going to need everyone who steps on that football pitch to be 100 per cent physically. Today, this game’s come too early for those players; Alphonse [Areola], Lemina, the two boys [Kenny Tete & Ola Aina] we literally just signed. They probably fit into the same category as Mitro. I’m pleased that he got 30 minutes, along with Anguissa, and on Wednesday [against Ipswich Town] we can get some more minutes into these players.
Was the starting line-up a reward for the players who won promotion?
No, not at all. I picked a team today which I thought was the best team to win the game. The team you saw has been in the building now for three weeks, has trained, has worked hard, and I felt could compete physically in what is the most demanding league in the world. There was no sentimentality in that team selection. It was a group of players that I thought was best equipped to get a result and win the game today.
