Despite being disappointed with Tuesday’s defeat in the Carabao Cup, Neal Bishop has reflected on the game and how the team can improve ahead of Saturday.
The 36-year-old captained United in their second-round clash with his boyhood club Middlesbrough, which they eventually lost 3-0.
The midfielder provided his reaction to iFollow Iron following the fixture.
ON THE MATCH…
NB: The way that we conceded the goals was disappointing. I think that we have got into equally good positions and it’s not converting our final ball that has let us down on more than one occasion. That’s probably the difference between the leagues and they put a strong team out. They punished us when they got into those dangerous positions. We’ve played some good football at times, got into some great areas and it’s the final ball and our decision making that has let us down at a vital time. The second goal came at a really bad time for us and once that went in it would always be an uphill struggle. You’ve got to commit to the game more and take a few more risks as otherwise good teams will punish you. However, we didn’t give in, we stuck with the task at hand and we were a little bit unlucky. On another night, we might have got a goal or two.
ON PLAYING AGAINST HIS HOMETOWN CLUB…
NB: It’s brilliant to play against them. I made my Blackpool debut here when we were in the Championship so that was another proud time for me. However, it’s not about me. I’m disappointed. I think that I could’ve done a bit better with one of the goals. It was a couple of tackles on the edge of the box, the lad got through and if we look at chances like that then we have to be stronger. If we go into half-time only one goal down then we’re still in it, but two before half-time killed it. I’ll hold up my hand and say that that’s not good enough. However, it’s not about one person as we’ve come here as a team. At times, we got ourselves into those positions to go and stick the knife in but then didn’t. However, it’s a barometer to see where we need to be to get to the next level.
"However, we didn’t give in, we stuck with the task at hand and we were a little bit unlucky. On another night, we might have got a goal or two."
ON THE OPPOSITION…
NB: They’re very good. They got themselves into good positions and they’ve been clinical. You could see that they believed a bit more in what they were doing. When we got into those positions the decision-making was wrong, we panicked and the final ball has either gone out or we haven’t picked a man. For the first goal, the player has gone down the line, he’s picked his head up and the opposition full-back has got his head in. That’s the difference. It’s the fine margins that make a difference.
ON FOCUSING ON THE LEAGUE…
NB: We have to take some positives out of it. We were unlucky not to get on the scoresheet but we’re out of this cup now and we will look at what we did wrong, we’ll take the positives and go into what’s going to be a very tough game in Plymouth on Saturday.
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