A delighted Luke Williams sat down with members of the local press to give his thoughts on Town’s emphatic 3-0 victory at home to Rochdale earlier this evening…
ON THE RESULT AND PERFORMANCE:
“I’m just really pleased for the players because I think they deserved that.
“The key was hard work and concentration.
“Two clean sheets and we were coming to grips with things in the Wimbledon game and we took things a step further in this game against an extremely good team.
“I’m very impressed with the players.
“Rochdale are a very, very good team and you could see that they were a good team. I don’t think they played below par, our players were just very, very good and made it difficult for them.
“I’m very proud of the players and I’m very pleased for them because they deserved that.”
ON DARNELL FURLONG’S GOAL:
“He has been involved in goals and assists this season already and he’s shown that defensively he’s fantastic, but he’s all the time adding to his game because he’s very driven and very professional.
“It was like a real striker’s goal and it looked like he swivelled and generated a lot of power, so very impressive.”
ON NATHAN DELFOUNESO’S GOAL:
“He’s made that run a lot and he’s not been found enough – there is a balance between risk and reward for the players not wanting to force too much and turn the ball over and be on a counter-attack.
“But the timing was spot on, the run was excellent, the pass was excellent and he got a well-deserved goal.”
ON NATHAN THOMPSON’S GOAL AND TOWN’S THIRD:
“He should claim it because his performance warrants him taking it. He puts himself on the line for every single action and he’s there to get a flick – I’m sure he should claim it.”
ON ANOTHER PENALTY SAVE FROM LAWRENCE VIGOUROUX:
“He’s outstanding and the only thing that worries me is that he keeps doing this and we’re going to lose him because he’s top drawer and he’s proving it every week.
“I hope he can stay with us a little bit longer.
“Also, and I’ve said this before in the press, decisions balance themselves up and for sure it is not a penalty at the weekend, we had a penalty awarded against us at Oxford that was a foot outside the box and these things have a way of evening themselves up and I would say that is us getting some payback for misfortune in the past that we’re fortunate to have Lawrence in goal.
“If scouts aren’t watching Lawrence then they are not good at their job because you need to watch this boy – don’t watch him too closely though!
“He’s got a long way to go and he needs to stay at Swindon for a considerable amount of time to get better, but he’s worth keeping tabs on.”
ON LAWRENCE VIGOUROUX REACHING 50 GAMES FOR TOWN:
“For those that know Lawrence they will all say the same thing and that is he’s matured and grown up a lot.
“He’s a character and he can be the joker in the pack, which is something really important and you need in the changing room, but with that comes some responsibility because you need to stop being the joker at some point and come out and punch balls into the crowd and be able to make big saves.
“You’ve got to be professional and focused all the time and that’s what he’s done, he’s managed to maintain that status of being the joker but he’s also got a professional edge to him that is showing now on the pitch.”
ON ROCHDALE’S RED CARD:
“It was a coming together and I’ve earned the right to say I’ll leave it to the referee because when a decision doesn’t go in the favour of my team I don’t criticise the referee, I’ll say the same now.
“The referee got a big call to make, he made it and I’ll leave him to it.”
ON DARNELL FURLONG PICKING UP HIS FIFTH BOOKING OF THE SEASON:
“We lose Darnell but Bradley Barry is coming back into full fitness at the right moment and he’s very capable and will most likely step in on Saturday.”
ON TOM SMITH’S IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE:
“You need to be brave when you are at the bottom of the division and you have to make a big decision, you can try to reshuffle the pack and put somebody out of position who is more experienced but Tom has shown me and he’s earned my trust and respect to put him in.
“He gave a very good account of himself tonight.”
ON JAMES GEORGAKLIS BEING NAMED ON THE BENCH:
“He’s been earmarked as the next Massimo Luongo which is incredibly big boots to fill, but he’s a talented boy that really works hard.
“He’s earning the right to get one step closer to the first-team and one step closer to being on the pitch.
“It is just a good experience to warm-up to being on the bench and then maybe think at one moment you might get called into action.
“I’m sure there are a few cartwheels in the stomach but I’m pleased to see so many young players on the bench. We of course always want to have the strongest team but when one door shuts another one opens.”
ON JAKE EVANS MAKING HIS FIRST OUTING OF THE SEASON:
“He came on and in a game that was still very much alive, he came on the pitch and fitted straight in and got up to speed very, very quickly.
“I’m very pleased for him.”
