MORE FROM LE BRIS

As well as his pre-Fulham injury update and match preview, Regis Le Bris was asked about Luke O'Nien after our club captain surprised a fan with a birthday FaceTime call. He was also asked about Kristjaan Speakman's recent exit, but kept his response brief and professional as expected.

LUKE IS SPECIAL

“He is really special. Special as a person and as a player as well. He is really important for us, played a really good game against Oxford. It was a real fight in this area but it wasn’t just the defensive side, he was also really good with the ability to carry the ball, to ping it and play outside for example. He is a really strong teammate and he leads by example. This energy is really positive for the squad.”

EVERYONE NEEDS A LUKE O'NIEN

“This profile is really rare, so we have to enjoy having someone like him in the squad. He has always been positive when he didn’t play a lot, and his behaviour is always connected with first the squad and the team, but also he always wants to improve himself through different experiences. As a footballer you want to play, but he can see everything to get better.”

JOURNEY FROM LEAGUE ONE

“It is not usual, that is a fact, but it is really well connected with his attitude. I really want to highlight the way he behaves every day, he is so well-connected to the lads. He is the club captain but not the matchday captain. The way he connects with the collective ambition first of all, and then his own way of managing every opportunity to grow, is perfect. I think for a manager, the coaches and the young players as well when they struggle, you have a player like Luke who can inspire them. Sometimes in football you can meet talented players with bad behaviour, and everyday if you see those bad behaviours then you might be inspired negatively. That is totally the opposite for Luke.”

CONTACT WITH SPEAKMAN?

“Not really, because it is a difficult period and we have to respect that part. But we will stay in contact and a bit later I hope we will have the opportunity to speak again because we had a really good relationship.”