Town Head Coach Luke Williams addressed members of the local media in the wake of his side’s 1-1 draw with MK Dons earlier today. Here are the key points from what he had to say…
ON THE RESULT AND PERFORMANCE:
“You can look at it two ways and at times we rode our luck but then we did carve out some very good opportunities, so it is frustrating but overall and over the course of the 90 minutes we should be pleased with a point as well.
“We started very cagey and very defensive but this opposition are very, very good and they were calm under pressure, they are composed, they’ve got players who can run past you, players who can see a pass and they are a good side, no doubt about that.
“The manager made them well-organised and they know their jobs so we started very cagey, which is fantastic if you score first but if you score second then it is much more difficult with the way we set-up to play.
“MK attack with far more players and it is difficult to keep them out. One mistake, a penalty and now we’re chasing and playing cagey like that is difficult.”
ON MK’S PENALTY:
“It is something that I preach over and over again but I’m not in the thick of it and in that moment it is to not to tackle inside the box and to try and block or to try and put your foot in the line of the perceived shot, but if you go for the ball then there is a moment where someone moves the ball, the foot is replaced and you touch the foot and the leg but Charlie (Colkett) will learn from that now.
“It is unfortunate but we must move on.”
ON JON OBIKA’S GOAL:
“It wasn’t his strongest foot but he hit it fantastically well and I’m sure Nicky (Ajose) wanted to push it in over the line because that’s in Nicky’s nature, but he let someone else score for once and Jon deserved that.
“He carries so much on his shoulders for the team, he has to fight for so many aerial balls and he has to make himself available for passes coming over a long distance where defenders have got time to try and hit you.
“He never stops running to try and press people and he deserved that.”
ON CHANGES MADE FOR THE SECOND-HALF:
“We need the points, we know that, so we decided to be very brave in the second-half and play with lots of width with two of the three central defenders joining in the attacks at times to try and get into the box.
“We saw Raphael Rossi-Branco try and play at the top of the pitch for two or three actions at a time, so we tried to be brave and we almost pulled it off.
“We had to ride our luck again at the other end of the pitch but you can’t have everything.”
ON LAWRENCE VIGOUROUX’S FINE DISPLAY:
“Lawrence made good saves and when we were under pressure and you know the ball is going to be put into the box, then there is no better feeling than seeing the goalkeeper come out and catch it and deal with it.
“To make saves that he’s got no right to make means that we really owe him for this performance.”
ON MK DONS:
“I wasn’t worried about our performance because the opposition were very, very good.
“They came here on a nice day on a wonderful pitch and there was no pressure, so they could attack a lot with a lot of players.
“I’ve got no problem with admitting that the opposition were better than us for periods of the game.
“They enjoyed the pitch and the weather and they looked like they were ready to join in the game and I’m not too disappointed with that.
“We did what we needed to and at times we were probably outclassed.”
ON DION CONROY’S INJURY:
“It is perhaps a nerve issue in my own personal opinion because one minute it is fine, then it is a Grade Three hamstring and then it is fine again.
“Often we get these symptoms from nerve problems and it can give you the side effects of something more serious and the medical science will ultimately determine what it is.
“Fingers crossed that it is nothing too serious.
“He’s a competitor, he’s happy to make headers and tackle, he’s quick across the ground to cover, he can make a pass and he’s come in and given a very, very good account of himself.”
ON THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL:
“Three wins out of the last four could be what we need but we’re up for the challenge and we’ll certainly give everything we possibly can to get there.”
ON THE SUPERB SUPPORT:
“Honestly, I can’t thank everybody enough because we really felt it and I felt another two minutes and we would have scored the winner because the volume of the crowd would have pushed the ball over the line.
“I loved this campaign and I would like us to be more proactive and for us to do it more often and to give as much as we can to make it easy for the fans to come here.
“Many people are helping our cause and that is a fantastic feeling.”
