Manager Keith Hill reflects on his side’s defeat to Bradford City at the Crown Oil Arena…
“We were beaten by the better side but it doesn’t mean that we should be beaten 4-0,” said Hill.
“I thought it was very competitive and I thought they were the better side in the first half the game is still in the asking at 1-0. I thought we defended some situations really well in the first half but we didn’t get our game going. And if I’m being honest, I don’t think the opposition let us. I expected the game to settle down but it settled down in their favour.
“I’m disappointed with the timing and the manner of the goal we conceded after half-time. It gave us a mountain to climb and we didn’t climb it, and they got better and better. The best player on the pitch was Jack Payne – he shouldn’t be playing League One football. I thought Bradford were excellent today and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin and accept that the opposition were better and learn from it.
“You’re also looking for your players to learn on the pitch during games like that so they can become stronger, and I was very disappointed that we didn’t compete in the manner that I expected us to when facing their goal in the first half. We allowed them to arrive on the front foot, and fair play to them, they were on the front foot and they very were assertive, but I thought we should have done better to try and take away the control of the game from the opponents.”
He continued: “The penalty is a difficult one as a central defender. The goalkeeper has kicked it beyond him and Eoin Doyle is brilliant in that once he gets in behind, he runs across the line of Ryan Delaney’s recovery run and he goes down. There was a lot of indecision from the officials and you could argue that on another day that it shouldn’t have been a penalty. If anything, it’s a little bit clumsy and I think there is a little bit of contact, so, at this moment in time, I won’t be arguing against it. And then their fourth goal is a wonderful goal, but it adds salt to the wound.
“I’ve said to the lads that there is no way they deserve to be punished. I think we’ve been excellent in the pervious two games. Today, we’ve been beaten by a better side, a stronger side. I alluded to it in my pre-match interview that they are getting a good bounce now with the players that they’ve got and, like I said, they are a very good side.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.