Press news in...

🎙️🔰 Johannes Hoff Thorup will join us from a rainy Colney shortly
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JHT on Sarg: "He has a very big role. I know when you focus on strikers, you don't talk that much about their defensive discipline and he's fantastic at that. He's the centre of the first press, he connects the wide players and he's very analytic in his approach. That's what you see at the highest level, it's a huge part of the game. In attack, he's our main guy. He gets into good positions and he can run in behind. He's a central character for us, in the game and his personality."

JHT on Liam Gibbs: “Not very positive. I think we are talking a return to play in 10 weeks time. It’s unfortunately what we hoped it wasn’t.”

JHT on Onel Hernandez: “We are also talking 10 weeks time. It didn’t look that bad on the pitch. It’s now very important we took that decision (to take him off).”

JHT on Slimane: “He is back in the team. He’s been in training all week.”

JHT on Slimane in a starting position to start: “Yes, he is.”

JHT on Kellen Fisher: “I told him before the game on Saturday, we only extend it if you play well.” 🤣

JHT on Kellen Fisher: “He’s been performing well here since day one. Even when he wasn’t playing, he pushed hard in training. I spoke to Jack (Stacey) before Watford and said we felt it was time for Kellen to get a chance. It will help Jack to keep sharp and competitive.”

JHT: “I struggle a little bit to find out what the best choice is for these young players, who are close to our team, but need that next step. Sometimes it’s better them to stay here and have sessions with the first team and some to go out on loan.”

JHT on Jack Stacey: “It’s exactly the response you want as a coach. Praise to Jack and Ben (Chrisene). They showed this in 15-minutes they played.”

JHT on Tony Roberts: “We are really delighted as a club. It was our first priority. Dec (Rudd) will also travel with us to Derby to support Tony. We didn’t want a quick fix, we went for who we felt was the most ambitious candidate.”

JHT on academy coaches: “It’s a massive help to us and they will stay around the team. Dec (Rudd) will still be part of that goalkeeper group”

JHT on Watford: “I was really delighted and still am with the moments we had in that game. Then there was these moments when I wasn’t satisfied with our approach to it. We were passive after it went 3-1. That’s how we want to handle the end of the game.”

JHT: “We were not satisfied with the performance at Swansea. That result could have been different and we still talk about a process here where we need to improve. It was important in front of the home crowd to have our best performance.”

JHT on Paul Warne: “Let’s see how big a fan he is tomorrow.”

JHT on Derby County: “They are good on the counter. They are strong on free-kick, corner and throw-in situations. We need to be aware of this.”

JHT: “We can really feel the support. I’ve heard how many fans are travelling tomorrow and it’s really impressive. We can get this support from the crowd.”

JHT on Schwartau: “I have an idea that he will be a Premier League player in the future and I hope it’s with us. I almost hope it’s with us and then somewhere else. He’s really a runner in his game and open spaces for others.”

JHT on attacking shapes: “I think still we need to be better at combinations in the central position. I think we’ve improved in the wide areas. What I liked to see was the variation we had on Saturday. Short and long passes.”

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That’s all from Johannes Hoff Thorup at Colney for today.

Posted By: DrDublin, Sep 27, 13:55:34