Funso Ojo has highlighted his recent conversation with Graham Alexander as a major influence on scoring his second goal for the Iron yesterday.
The Belgian midfielder scored the Iron’s first goal in a 2-2 draw against Northampton Town and said that Alexander’s advice to be more patient in front of goal helped him to score.
Despite his goal, Ojo believes that United need to be more consistent throughout games to be able to seal a win. He discussed this, his goal, and his Black Panther inspired celebration in an exclusive interview with iFollow Iron.
ON THE TEAM’S PERFORMANCE…
FO: We didn’t perform how we would have wanted to. We have set the standard really high throughout the season and we didn’t really play up to those standards. Therefore, we are not happy with the result or how we played.
ON THE POSITIVES TO BE DRAWN FROM THE GAME…
FO: There were glimpses of how we can play but the game is 90-95 minutes. We can’t do well for just 10-15 minutes, switch off again and then switch back on. We have to be on point for the full 90 minutes.
ON WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE AHEAD OF THE NEXT GAME…
FO: I think that we all need to recharge our batteries because a lot of players are tired. I think that that’s normal because we have had four games in 14 days with a lot of travelling to away games involved. I think that we need to look after our bodies as we all have some small pains. It’s normal in football but that recharge would really help.
ON CHIPPING IN WITH A GOAL…
FO: The lads say that it’s not just the attackers and the forwards that have to score. It’s all of us that have to try and I’m happy that I can chip in and help the team.
ON FINDING THE NET FROM ONE OF HIS SIGNATURE LONG SHOTS…
FO: I had a chat with the gaffer (Graham Alexander) about my long shots and so I tried to block out the chants to shoot. I have to be more patient and only shoot when it really opens up for me to shoot. Luckily, this was one of those moments.
ON THE GOAL AND HIS BLACK PANTHER INSPIRED CELEBRATION…
FO: It was a great ball from Yatesy (Ryan Yates) but I think that he meant to pass it to Joshy (Josh Morris). Nevertheless, it came to me and I think that I ran over half of the pitch to get to the edge of the box. The path to goal opened up because of a great run from Josh that took the defender with him so I shot and it went in. As for the celebration, I went to see Black Panther this week and in the film they make a cross with their arms and then lower them. I was talking about that with my Mrs before the game and I saw her in the stands so that was the first thing that popped into my head. I don’t really know how to celebrate after scoring a goal.
ON BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE IN FRONT OF HIS PARTNER…
FO: I’ve already had a lot of texts from her as she’s currently waiting for me. She’s proud and she’s happy for me because she knows how much pressure there is from the outside that I start chipping in with goals. She knows that I don’t really care about goals as I just want to play well in games. That’s why she’s really happy for me.
ON THE UPCOMING BRISTOL ROVERS GAME…
FO: We’ve been saying it every week when we get a bad result but every game does matter and we have to go for those three points in every game.