Tony Mowbray singled out Chris Rigg for special praise, and had a message for the fans in the States who showed up in their numbers...
45 EACH
"We changed everybody outfield at half time, so 20 players got 45 outfield minutes behind them now. They’re running now as well as doing the 45 minutes. As I watch them I see a bit of fatigue in them. They’re not dozy, but a bit dull at times. Sharp brains are part of our game, last year was clever, bright, sharp one-twos, pop it, run it, stick it. I think they’ve been training really really hard in the heat and that comes out a little bit on the matchday on the pitch. It’s really hard which is why we thought 45 minutes for each of them tonight. And then to get the balance in the 45 minutes is putting enough experienced players with gametime on the pitch with some really young lads. They played against a really big physical team, a real high pressing team, they’re the highest pressing team in their league with the most shots, so to win 3-1 was good, to make all them changes at half time and everyone getting a run out was good, but I understand they’re playing fatigue and they should be. It’s pre-season. We don’t have to win games at this stage, we have to be ready for August, not now. We’ve still got three weeks of preparation so they’re training and working hard, and games are part of their preparation really. Then in that last week we’ll taper it down so they’re full of legs and energy for the first game.”
RIGG PUSHING FOR A START!
“Chris Rigg is pushing really hard for a starting place in our team, I would suggest. I don’t say that lightly, he’s a 16 year old boy. But he knows where the goal is, he wants to run forward, he’s got energy to burn and can keep running all day. He looks you in the eye and wants to please you and do what you want him to do. He should have scored again to be honest, if he’d trusted his right foot he would have scored again. Rigg’s doing really well and he’s a real positive for our football club, so we’ll just keep going. Listen, I’m eulogising about him there but we shouldn’t overly build him up, he’s still a very young boy but he has wonderful qualities and wonderful attributes.”
ATMOSPHERE
“Amazing, full stadium, lots of noise, fireworks going off behind the goals and flares, the national anthem was amazing, it was quite a spectacle. It was great for our young players to play in the atmosphere of a proper game. Sometimes pre-season games can be difficult to get through and it’s difficult for me to get them up to the level, but the crowd were here tonight. A lot of red and white shirts here, and I mean a lot. A lot of people I’ve talked to living over here have come with their strips on and their family stories of why they’re here, and they’ve travelled a long way to come and watch the team. So as I said to the lads before the game, it is a pre-season friendly but I want them to put some effort in. We need to win football matches, let’s try and be relentless in our quest to win games. Some people have travelled a long way so you need to be showing them how much we care about the jersey. We worked hard tonight against a big strong physical team and ultimately the quality we possess managed to win the game for us.”
