Speaking in his weekly press conference on Thursday morning, Lee Bowyer gave his take on the recent run of form, provided an injury update and looked ahead to the upcoming game against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
Bowyer’s full press conference is available to watch on Valley Pass and the Valley Pass app now.
Below are some of the talking points...
On conceding late goals and recent form…
"I don’t think it’s fatigue, our fitness is very good. I think it just comes down to concentration. These boys were playing in League One last year, and you could get away with that, that’s the difference. You could get away with making a mistake. In this division you can’t.
"Like you saw the other night, apart from the two goals that they scored, Dillon made a couple of saves which you’d expect him to make. It’s just switching off and that’s what has cost us whether it’s regarding set pieces or in open play.
"We’ve got to do our individual jobs better because, if not, then you will get punished. That’s what has been happening to us and I feel for the lads because you can’t make many changes. They’re giving everything. All I can ask is that they just keep giving that and to try and manage the games properly when we’re in control. They’re learning the hard way at the moment."
On injuries...
"The squad is the same. Jonny Williams was meant to be back. He had an air-shot and missed the ball and his hamstring went tight. He’s had it scanned and he’s got a grade one hamstring tear. So, he’s out for two weeks.
"Sam Field was meant to be back training on Wednesday, he did the last two days of his training on Tuesday with West Brom outside with the first team. They wanted to tick that off. Then his foot got stuck in the ground and he re-twisted his knee.
"I spoke to someone that I know there, and they said that all the work had gone well, and they’d strengthened him, but you just can’t help someone’s foot getting caught in the ground. He’s going for another scan today and we’ll know more either today or tomorrow. But the disappointing thing is he is not going to be with us for the weekend which I was really looking forward to because he is a good player and he protects the back four. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look too good regarding Sam.
"The difficulty we have [with getting players ready] is that the training pitches are soaked. They’re underwater. We’re just trying to find a little 30x30 area that we can use to get something into them. We’re going to look to go down The Valley tomorrow to train down there."
On the upcoming game against QPR…
"They sound a bit like us. We can score goals but we can also concede goals. That’s something that we’re trying to work on – preventing goals.
"The two that we conceded on Friday night were two goals that could have easily been prevented. So we’re working hard just like they probably are to try and turn that around because going forward both teams look to have goals in them. So, it could be an eventful game on Saturday!
"It’s a good ground. I’ve been there a few times. I watched a few games there last season. I haven’t managed to get there yet this season but it’s a good old-fashioned ground. I think I only played there once, so yeah, I’m looking forward to going there. It’s a tight pitch, the crowd are on top of you so I’m hoping, most importantly, we can get the three points.
