Lee Grant
Who starts in goal on Saturday?
As always, we like to keep our cards as close to our chest as possible, but we’re obviously grateful that we have both of our established number ones available to us, both training well and in good form and spirits. So as with every position, they have to compete and work hard to keep, regain or retain their spot. So, yeah, that doesn’t change for regardless of position.
Do Palace put pressure on to play Goodman?
No, we don’t have that, and we wouldn’t put ourselves in a position as a football club where our decision making could be impacted from something external. We’re really fortunate to have Owen and Lee, who are two excellent goalkeepers, and at this level, we feel really blessed to have two goalkeepers of such quality. We’re looking forward to that battle continuing.
Fair to say no automatic right for Goodman to come straight back in?
we’ve been pleased with them both. And I think if I was to try and take my manager of Huddersfield Town head off, I think both would probably have a decent claim or argument as to why they feel like they should play the next game, or the next one after that, or the one after that. We’re really happy with how they both performed over the course of the season and the various points, really happy that Lee’s had his first clean sheet of the season at the weekend, we’re delighted with Owen getting four clean sheets in his first four league games. So there’s plenty of positives, but decisions to make, and that’s what we want most.
Vost and Ashia chance of a look in?
Well, what we do have right now is more injuries than we’d like, and we’ve got young players that are supporting the group really well, and have done so since pre season, and have, I think, begun to earn the trust of this more senior players in the squad by the level of performance they’ve shown in those competitions. So they are and will continue to be part of what we’re doing. And my thinking, of course, with a squad as deep as we’ve got, they’re going to have to work extremely hard to stay part of it. But whilst we have the squad situation that we have currently with, as I say, more injuries than I’d like. They’re going to be close to it on that front.
Injury news
Obviously Herbie Kane’s situation hasn’t changed. We’re going to be without Herbie for months, rather than weeks, which is really disappointing.
We are going to be without Will Alves for for months rather than weeks, which is really disappointing. It’s a real big blow. He’s come in and been so bright with his energy, so bright with his performances, we’ve been very careful to manage his minutes and manage the physical exposure that he’s had, and then you do all of that, and then something freak comes out of nowhere, and he gets a foot injury, which is really disappointing for Will and really disappointing for myself and the playing squad.
But again, this is why we put together a strong squad, so we can cope with these moments. And we’re certainly in one at the minute.
Gooch and Whatmough?
Both of them are back in their football boots and working on the grass this week. So decisions to make about their level of involvement coming into this weekend.
Exhausting effort against Man City then long trip to Exeter
It doesn’t help, doesn’t help our preparations, but we’ve got a really professional group of players. Last night’s game gets parked very quickly, and this morning we’re working and we’re we’re managing the group in terms of their recovery protocols and everything we need to do to make sure they’re in a good place for for training on Friday, which we will, of course, dial into the detail of what will be needed for Saturday.
But we have to cope with that schedule, and we’ve done it in the past, and we know we can so important that, again, all of our energy now is steered towards what will be really important game for us.
Grumbles from fans over past two games make this one a big game?
I’m not aware of them, but what I would say is every game feels really important.
I think last night, we can be so proud of what the football club has achieved. And I think I said before that the game really was a reward for the group in terms of the effort, the level of performance that has gone on, not just across the two cup performances, but across the start of the season, which has been, for the most part, really pleasing.
But we want to make sure we’re competitive in every game. And we want to, we want to win every game. I’ve got be honest, the group have high expectations. So when you come away from Burton with one point rather than three, we want to go after all three this weekend, that’s for sure. So it feels like another game that we want to target and have that as our goal. So we’ll approach it in that manner
Every week we want to, we want to win. I think you can see from the way we really leave it all out there at the end of the Burton game, but that’s that’s where the group are as well. But I think the shared frustration for us and the supporters after Burton is that it’s a game that we would have loved to have won. We had opportunities to win, and we didn’t win. So we always then look for a response and look for the right level of energy and intent going into the next one.
Exeter is the next one. It is away from home, they will be a difficult opposition, but it doesn’t change our thought process. We want to attack again. We want to really go after so that’s the plan.
I think for us, we are really mindful of our expectations internally and the standards we set for ourselves internally.
I think externally, it’d be daft to say that players and myself, we don’t have any clue as to what’s going on in the world. But the reality is that we really put our focus and our energy into where we want to be, what we have in our in our sights, and what targets we’ve set for ourselves, and that’s where our focus really has to be this weekend.
It has to be on on task. It has to be on all the detail that will help us be successful and hopefully put us in a position where we can be and take maximum points this weekend, which is like I say, that’s really our goal.
Has Bojan Radulovic been a pleasant surprise?
I’ve tried to be really clear and open with everybody about the opportunity that they they have in front of them this season, and Bojan did have somewhat of a disjointed start to his pre season.
He started a little bit later than everybody else and had one or two bits that got in the way of a few days of training, but is now in a position where we’re seeing the benefits, I believe, and I think he would agree, of a block of work over a sustained period of time, and some exposure to match minutes, and I think we’re getting the benefits of that in training every day.
The same goes for every player. When your work and your level in training is to a good level and to a sustained and consistent level, I just think it puts you in a much better position to be selectable and to be available for the squad and the team, and Bojan is doing that in a minute, and he’s such a great guy.
I really enjoy working with Bojan. I really enjoy his quality. He has this relaxed but intense quality about him…it’s quite strange actually, he’s like…I don’t know, but I really enjoy working with him. He’s a good guy. He’s got nice personality. I think the guys really like him. So you always want good people to do well and to get exposure to the team he’s got. He’s got strengths that the other ones don’t have, and vice versa, we’ve got guys strength that he doesn’t have. So having Bojan in the squad, and having him in and around the team, I see as a positive for us.
Does City-Exeter turnaround affect thoughts on team selection?
I think you have to be mindful of all of those factors when you’re picking a team every week, but none more so than when you’ve had big game, big minutes, big energy expended from the team on a Wednesday night, you have to definitely be mindful of those decisions then going into the next game.
We are fortunate that we’ve been able to manage the squad through these cup competitions as well and expose majority of our squad to these games. So that’s been a real big help to us.
But it’s important that as and when we can keep people fresh and keep people ready, so we have to try and make good decisions based upon that, going into another tough away game, as you say, at the wrong end of the country for us.
Joe Taylor
Disappointed not to play against Man City?
Yeah, but that’s not because it was Man City. I think if that was anyone, I don’t like sitting on the bench at all. That’s one of them things that I’ve never really enjoyed. I’ve done it quite a lot in my short career so far. But, yeah, anyone, if we could have been playing anyone, and I wouldn’t have been, wouldn’t have been happy.
Did Lee Grant want you rested for Saturday?
I haven’t had that conversation, but I just think positively in every scenario. So if that’s what he if that’s what he wants to do, then happy days. So now we’re we’re all really looking forward to this weekend.
Rumblings of discontent from fans after Bradford and Burton
I think all in all, we were disappointed as well. We’ve been disappointed in both games because, albeit, we were slightly off the pace at Bradford.
Burton was the polar opposite. We dominated the game for 70, 80 minutes. And I think other than maybe two breakaways that they had, a couple of breakaways that they had, that was their only threat on our goal really. We just didn’t really find that last bit to get us over the line here against Burton.
You pick up on it, like we get it, we understand it, but at the same time, we still need them there…we still need as much support as as they can possibly give. Because when they’re on it, they’re a 12th man, and it is brilliant. Last night was unbelievable. You could hear him from minute one. And I think it’s one of the things we need. We need that every weekend. I think if we’d have had it here against Burton, potentially, we would have managed to, I don’t know, gravitationally push the ball into the back of the net.
But no, we get it, we understand, but all eyes are to this weekend, hopefully we can put it right.
More expectation at Huddersfield?
Yeah, of course, but it’s important to have expectation, but at the same time, you can’t get you can’t get too carried away. We’re only human. We’re not going to get it right every single week, week in, week out. It’s just normal. Things like this happen, but we back ourselves as a group, we back ourselves as individuals, and we know that, come May, we like to believe that we’ll be we’ll be right up there.
New group just need time to come together fully?
Absolutely, you’re bang on. But like I said, it’s a new group, but we do work with each other every day. We understand each other. We know how to get the best out of each other already. The gaffer has gelled that into us already, and it’s just we’re human beings, things happen, and things don’t always go your way. But what we can do is keep going out there in training days and even on game days and just working our hardest, eventually things will come good.
How do you tell teammates what service you need?
Well, they know that if they, if they get the balls to me or Alfie, or to Dion and Bojan when they’re playing, and get it in the right areas, nine times out of ten, we will put them chances away. But like I said, we’re all human, and it doesn’t always happen that way. Teams will come here, they’ll they’ll defend for their lives and stuff like that. You can’t just break people down like that.
Even away at Bradford, the half an hour, we were playing really well. It’s probably one of our best performances of the season. But they sit back, they defend, and they defend for their lives, and eventually the space is just squashed, and you can’t break it down. It’s going to take a bit of magic from, I don’t know, 30 yards out or or in some cases, a deflection. Things like that happen, and unfortunately, it just didn’t fall for us.
Do you feel that pressure of expectation on your shoulders to deliver the bit of magic?
I wouldn’t say pressure. I don’t feel the pressure of the expectation. But you can certainly feel the expectation, of course. But I put that on myself as well. I put more pressure on myself than anyone else. If I don’t score in a game, I’ll be slightly disappointed, but at the same time, I know that if I get myself in the right positions, eventually the ball will come and I will score.
Good away win would settle nerves?
I’m not sure we’ve really been off-track. We had a blip at Bradford, and we were really good for a large majority of Burton. We just couldn’t get the ball across the line. All it takes is something scrappy, something lucky, and we’re back to where we were scoring goals and taking three points.
Any personal goals?
I set myself little goals, yeah, like I want to be in around the Golden Boot come the end of the season and stuff like that. But I’m not a massive goal setter. My goal is score goals, and hopefully I can do that throughout the season. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
All about finding balance between attack and defence?
I think if you were just you could have anyone in this chair, and they’ll say that. I think consistency is key now, like we’ve had spells of being really good going forward and lacking defensively, but we’ve also had really good spells of being really good at the back and lacking going forward. I think if we can find the common ground within all of that, I think we’ll be where we want to be.
But we’re a new team, so it’s going to take time for to really find that balance and get it down to where we want to get it to. But at the same time, I’ve just said there, we’re we’re really confident in as a group, and we do feel that that will come sooner rather than later.
Enjoying playing regularly after difficult season last season?
I’m one of them people I want to be playing. I want to be playing every game and as many games as I can. So even at the start of the season, it was tough for me, because I wanted to be out there, I wanted to be making a difference. I wanted to be scoring goals. But no, you’re right. I’m streets ahead of where I was last year and I just want to keep playing games, keep scoring goals, and hopefully maintain that throughout the year.
Getting used to idea of subs being just as important?
Yeah, absolutely. But I think that’s the same in every position. I think the squad is so strong and so deep that you’re going to have that healthy competition all over. And I think for me, it’s just focusing on being the best version of me every time I step out onto the onto the pitch here and the pitch back at the training ground.
But now I’m enjoying every minute of it, the healthy competition, the working hard every day, and I just hope it can continue.
