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Wanderers extended their unbeaten run in the Sky Bet Championship to six games with a goalless draw against Preston North End at Deepdale on Friday night.
And speaking after the final whistle, manager Phil Parkinson covered the following points...
On a hard-fought point against Preston…
I thought we started slowly tonight. The first 20 minutes, Preston were the better team but I thought we grew into the game.
Even during that opening period though, I thought there were some good parts defensively for us but we weren’t quite as at it as we had been.
We stayed in the game in that period and got to half time and in the second period, I thought we were the better side.
We had the better opportunities and looked really dangerous when we went forward, while we were probably unlucky not to nick the win in the end.
This was always going to be a dangerous game tonight with Preston’s recent run and even though they were moaning about their injuries, when you look at the side and the bench they had, it’s still a very strong team.
We will build on the point though and it’s six games unbeaten now.
On it being a typical derby encounter…
It was fast and furious at the start and no quarter given which you would expect, but it was a game where both teams have a lot at stake – Preston wanted to get off their recent bad run and we wanted to continue our unbeaten run.
I thought we stuck in there well tonight defensively and getting the clean sheet is really important for us.
If you go back to the Norwich game, we were fairly comfortable but conceded late on and as much as the three points was the biggest thing for us, defenders and goalkeeper thrive on clean sheets and I’m pleased that we managed to get one tonight.
We needed it – a clean sheet is a team effort and everybody worked hard for it tonight. Now though, we move onto Tuesday against Reading.
On Antonee Robinson’s performance…
I think Antonee is a player who has such a big heart – he never gives in. Even if he makes a mistake, you know it’s not going to affect him because he is such a strong player.
He got better as the game went on tonight. In the first period, when they were playing those diagonal balls to Barkhuizen, they looked threatening but in the second half, when the going got tough physically, Antonee really came into the game.
I thought he drove forward on that left hand side really, really well, so we’re very pleased with him
He’s a great character and he’s adding to what we’ve got here.
On how January will pan out for the club’s loan players…
We want to make sure that the squad improves and strengthens, and of course the loan players will fall into that category. Some have had their opportunities and made contributions compared to others.
We will keep assessing things alongside looking what players are out there as well to make sure that we will be improving the team come January…
On the performance of Karl Henry and Darren Pratley in midfield…
As the game wore on, I felt that they got better and better and won a lot of second balls in there. Their distribution was excellent too to Adam and Sammy.
It was important that we managed the game which we did well against Norwich and again tonight.
Maybe a couple of months ago, we may have lost tonight’s game, but it’s another valuable point for us.
And finally, looking ahead to Reading on Tuesday night…
I will be taking advantage of the free Saturday to watch Reading v Wolves tomorrow which I’m looking forward to and that long journey will feel so much better knowing we’ve got another point on the board.
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And speaking after the final whistle, manager Phil Parkinson covered the following points...
On a hard-fought point against Preston…
I thought we started slowly tonight. The first 20 minutes, Preston were the better team but I thought we grew into the game.
Even during that opening period though, I thought there were some good parts defensively for us but we weren’t quite as at it as we had been.
We stayed in the game in that period and got to half time and in the second period, I thought we were the better side.
We had the better opportunities and looked really dangerous when we went forward, while we were probably unlucky not to nick the win in the end.
This was always going to be a dangerous game tonight with Preston’s recent run and even though they were moaning about their injuries, when you look at the side and the bench they had, it’s still a very strong team.
We will build on the point though and it’s six games unbeaten now.
On it being a typical derby encounter…
It was fast and furious at the start and no quarter given which you would expect, but it was a game where both teams have a lot at stake – Preston wanted to get off their recent bad run and we wanted to continue our unbeaten run.
I thought we stuck in there well tonight defensively and getting the clean sheet is really important for us.
If you go back to the Norwich game, we were fairly comfortable but conceded late on and as much as the three points was the biggest thing for us, defenders and goalkeeper thrive on clean sheets and I’m pleased that we managed to get one tonight.
We needed it – a clean sheet is a team effort and everybody worked hard for it tonight. Now though, we move onto Tuesday against Reading.
On Antonee Robinson’s performance…
I think Antonee is a player who has such a big heart – he never gives in. Even if he makes a mistake, you know it’s not going to affect him because he is such a strong player.
He got better as the game went on tonight. In the first period, when they were playing those diagonal balls to Barkhuizen, they looked threatening but in the second half, when the going got tough physically, Antonee really came into the game.
I thought he drove forward on that left hand side really, really well, so we’re very pleased with him
He’s a great character and he’s adding to what we’ve got here.
On how January will pan out for the club’s loan players…
We want to make sure that the squad improves and strengthens, and of course the loan players will fall into that category. Some have had their opportunities and made contributions compared to others.
We will keep assessing things alongside looking what players are out there as well to make sure that we will be improving the team come January…
On the performance of Karl Henry and Darren Pratley in midfield…
As the game wore on, I felt that they got better and better and won a lot of second balls in there. Their distribution was excellent too to Adam and Sammy.
It was important that we managed the game which we did well against Norwich and again tonight.
Maybe a couple of months ago, we may have lost tonight’s game, but it’s another valuable point for us.
And finally, looking ahead to Reading on Tuesday night…
I will be taking advantage of the free Saturday to watch Reading v Wolves tomorrow which I’m looking forward to and that long journey will feel so much better knowing we’ve got another point on the board.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Last edited by karlypants on Sat Nov 18 2017, 11:58; edited 1 time in total