REGIS REACTS

RLB has explained the tough decision to bring Dan Ballard into the side ahead of Chris Mepham, and says nobody is getting carried away. It is, after all, only half time in this two-legged affair.

BALLARD PHYSICALITY

"Chris Mepham has been really impressive this season and played a lot of football. Every player in our backline has our own qualities and I think that in this scenario, against this team, in a semi-final, away from home especially, we needed that physicality in the box. Dan Ballard was ready to come back in and manage this situation properly.”

4-4-2

“We used it during the season. Not often, but it was always in my mind that we could do this. It’s always connected with the scenario of the opponent and, in the end, it was a good decision.”

NO COMPLACENCY

“I didn’t even need to say this to the players. The players were ready there to say, 'It's just halfway'. They know there is another game to play, a tough game. First of all, recover properly, then train properly. It is a different scenario, anything can happen in football, so we have to be ready. The players know this.”

RESTING THE SQUAD

"It was clear in my mind but it's tough after five defeats in a row to be fair. At the same time, it was really important to be ready for that type of game, it's so intense. Coventry played well, but we had our main squad fresh and that was my main point. I never had doubt about the level of our team. We've showed so many times that we were ready to play good games, in big games so why not now? For me it was obvious. The main question was can we have our full squad fresh?"