Following Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Southend United, Funso Ojo has said the Iron must be more “relentless”.
Ojo discussed the game, the desire to bounce back and the travelling supporters in an interview with iFollow Iron.
ON THE WAY THE GAME PLAYED OUT…
FO: I think we were the better team for most of the game. I think that we dominated at the front, middle and the back. However, in the end, they just wanted it a little bit more than us and that broke us down in the end.
ON WHETHER THE LATE GOAL LED TO A FAIR RESULT…
FO: This loss feels bad but it would have been the same feeling if we went home with a draw. Saying that, a draw is still a point and we need to get every point that we can. At the end, we have to be more relentless everywhere on the pitch, not only at the back but also in the middle and front. If it’s 2-2 and you have to kick the ball out of the stadium then just kick it out, it doesn’t matter. It gets a point and, as I said, we need the points in the league.
ON THE SUPPORT OF THE TRAVELLING IRON FANS…
FO: It was brilliant again and they made a lot of noise that pushed us forward. Not many live around the corner from here, so respect goes out to them for that. As they can see, we always go to them after the game, even if they are disappointed - that’s how we show our gratitude. Normally we show our gratitude with three points. We do that for them, for us and for the club.
"The most important thing for me is that we stick together as a team and don’t go pointing at each other."
ON HOW MUCH OF A PART THE CONDITIONS PLAYED IN THE GAME…
FO: I don’t know if everyone is going to see it on the videos but the pitch was one of the worst pitches that we’ve played on. It wouldn’t have mattered whether we played with studs or moulds because we just kept on slipping and it was hard to play how we usually want to play. Saying that, it’s not an excuse. We know, if that’s not possible, then we have to start grinding and playing from the second balls, stretching their team and putting the ball in and amongst the back four. I think that in certain phases we did that and we dominated them. However, sometimes, when we got that second ball we tried to play how we usually do and that’s where we lost the ball. You can’t dribble on this pitch. The ball just keeps on bouncing. You just need to control it, pass it and keep it simple.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNCING BACK AGAINST FLEETWOOD THIS SATURDAY…
FO: The most important thing for me is that we stick together as a team and don’t go pointing at each other. However, we have to be honest with each other as if we make a mistake we should be able to tell each other that ‘this has to be better’ and ‘that has to be better.’ We’re all professionals and we’re old enough. I think we’re starting to do that so that’s an improvement already. As I say we just need to stick together.
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