Eidur Gudjohnsen proud to lead Wanderers to victory

Sporting the captain’s armband as Wanderers ran out 3-1 winners over Fulham at Macron Stadium on Tuesday evening, Eidur Gudjohnsen believes he and his teammates were well worth their victory over Kit Symons’ men.

Alongside leading the side out in the clash, the 36-year-old drew Wanderers level against the Cottagers to cancel out Shaun Hutchinson’s opener, before late goals from debutant Saidy Janko and recent loan recruit Adam Le Fondre secured victory for the home side.

Speaking to bwfc.co.uk following the final whistle at BL6, the Icelander couldn’t hide his delight at the team’s efforts against the Craven Cottage outfit, with Gudjohnsen praising the Whites’ character and determination to overcome an early setback to secure all three points.

“It was very important for us to bounce back after the weekend,” he said. “It’s been a tough few weeks, obviously with the cup games against Liverpool which took a lot of energy out of us, but we don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We know very well that what we showed at Derby at the weekend wasn’t good enough – even though the first half an hour was an even game, but we just didn’t show enough character when we went a goal down.

“We spoke about it during the week and we were determined to rectify that in this game – I thought we had a great performance once we got going and we showed great character in coming back.

“Andrew Lonergan kept us in the game in the first half, but you could name anybody for a man of the match award – all of my teammates were brilliant this evening.”

With Wanderers coming from a goal down on the night to eventually run out comfortable winners in the clash, the frontman paid tribute to the team’s attitude in the face of adversity against their Fulham counterparts.

“The fact that we were able to come back from a goal down shows how much character we have in the team, but we have to realise that these things happen in football matches,” he explained.

“It’s been the same a couple of times in recent weeks where we’ve gone a goal down, but we showed against Fulham that we can bounce back - the most enjoyable thing though is the all-round performance.”

He continued: “It was perfect timing for us with the equalising goal – I thought that in the last 20 minutes of the first half we really got into our stride and put them under pressure before we got our reward.

“We were very determined at half time to keep that performance up in the second half to keep the pressure up as much as we could and I thought we did that.

“We didn’t give anything away in the second period – I actually can’t remember Fulham creating any chances really while we were putting them under constant pressure, but in the end we got our reward for our hard work.”

Also handed the captaincy for the evening in the absence of Matt Mills, the forward admitted that it was something which was not wasted on him.

“It’s a proud moment for me, to be captain on the night and it really is something special – it is a proud feeling when you have that armband on.

“It’s obviously great to have won the game too – it’s nice to be going home with the feeling of having got three points and played well - that’s what football is about but it’s the best feeling in the world.”

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karlypants wrote:Sporting the captain’s armband as Wanderers ran out 3-1 winners over Fulham at Macron Stadium on Tuesday evening, Eidur Gudjohnsen believes he and his teammates were well worth their victory over Kit Symons’ men.

Alongside leading the side out in the clash, the 36-year-old drew Wanderers level against the Cottagers to cancel out Shaun Hutchinson’s opener, before late goals from debutant Saidy Janko and recent loan recruit Adam Le Fondre secured victory for the home side.

Speaking to bwfc.co.uk following the final whistle at BL6, the Icelander couldn’t hide his delight at the team’s efforts against the Craven Cottage outfit, with Gudjohnsen praising the Whites’ character and determination to overcome an early setback to secure all three points.

“It was very important for us to bounce back after the weekend,” he said. “It’s been a tough few weeks, obviously with the cup games against Liverpool which took a lot of energy out of us, but we don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We know very well that what we showed at Derby at the weekend wasn’t good enough – even though the first half an hour was an even game, but we just didn’t show enough character when we went a goal down.

“We spoke about it during the week and we were determined to rectify that in this game – I thought we had a great performance once we got going and we showed great character in coming back.

“Andrew Lonergan kept us in the game in the first half, but you could name anybody for a man of the match award – all of my teammates were brilliant this evening.”

With Wanderers coming from a goal down on the night to eventually run out comfortable winners in the clash, the frontman paid tribute to the team’s attitude in the face of adversity against their Fulham counterparts.

“The fact that we were able to come back from a goal down shows how much character we have in the team, but we have to realise that these things happen in football matches,” he explained.

“It’s been the same a couple of times in recent weeks where we’ve gone a goal down, but we showed against Fulham that we can bounce back - the most enjoyable thing though is the all-round performance.”

He continued: “It was perfect timing for us with the equalising goal – I thought that in the last 20 minutes of the first half we really got into our stride and put them under pressure before we got our reward.

“We were very determined at half time to keep that performance up in the second half to keep the pressure up as much as we could and I thought we did that.

“We didn’t give anything away in the second period – I actually can’t remember Fulham creating any chances really while we were putting them under constant pressure, but in the end we got our reward for our hard work.”

Also handed the captaincy for the evening in the absence of Matt Mills, the forward admitted that it was something which was not wasted on him.

“It’s a proud moment for me, to be captain on the night and it really is something special – it is a proud feeling when you have that armband on.

“It’s obviously great to have won the game too – it’s nice to be going home with the feeling of having got three points and played well - that’s what football is about but it’s the best feeling in the world.”

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Wonderful words from someone who should keep that band every week.  What a nice influence for the team and we finally have found the passion that has been missing for the past few years.

Love Eidur, love his intelligent play, movement and passing but sadly his finishing ain't what it used to be and he scuffed a couple last night before he got the tap in. With the squad so stretched, it is fitting that he is given the captaincy though.