Albion Boss Dean Wilkins On The Match

Last updated : 25 September 2006 By Thetashkentterror
Dean Wilkins
Brighton caretaker manager Dean Wilkins, who was speaking to Brighton's official website, talked about the 3-1 defeat against United at Brunton Park. Wilkins talking about the lack of energy in his side in a lacklustre display :

"What disappointed me an awful lot was the more experienced players not leading the younger ones in the squad. But then the younger players have got to take responsibility as well. Generally I feel disappointed. We had too many players out there with low energy levels.

"We've got a lot of young players and we're playing a lot of games at the moment. Whether that has caught up with us, I'm not sure. We tried to give them some time off after the Southend game to keep them fresh. The club were good enough to fly us up here, so the preparation was as good as it could have got.

"Jake Robinson was ill. We wanted another forward option because we feel that once we've been in front in games we haven't held on to leads. Bringing Maheta (Molango) in was something we decided to do to have a look at, in case we got a goal up. Maybe (if we had) a more physical presence it could make a difference.

"It's a monster season. Every game is similar, all you can do is prepare yourself the best possible and hope that the players put into practice the plan that you send them out with. The players have got to take a good look at themselves and decide how much responsibility they really want to take."


Australian midfielder Paul Reid, who went off injured after 28 minutes, spoke to The Brighton Argus after the match, Reid commenting :

"Hopefully it's not too serious but it isn't looking too great. The ball got played into me, I saw Harty (Gary Hart) around the corner and my foot got stuck. The pitch was quite dry and my knee buckled under me. I tried to play on but I knew it wasn't right and, when I went up for a header, it buckled again as I landed. I've never had a knee injury so I'm not quite sure about it.

"We went to Carlisle with a lot of confidence but started off very slowly. That was our downfall. We didn't seem to be in the game in the first 20 or 30 minutes. We got more into the game in the second half but it was still a very disappointing performance, especially considering our League form of late."