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" I think that at the minute there are quite a few players giving me selection headaches and that is the problem that I have got at the moment, is which eleven are going to go forward. It is a nice problem to have though, it is a problem that I didn't always have at times last season.
" Since Richard Keogh has come to us though he has got himself fitter, he has lost a lot of weight, he has sharpened himself up, his he has grasped the nettle. His determination and his wholehearted approach is quite synonymous of what the qualities are required in this league. We have been delighted with Richard and the way that he has gone about his job, and he has certainly put himself right in the frame for a starting position.
" I don't know whose port of call it is to say that they are extremely disappointed about the tribunal, but I am. I think the way that Watford have handled the whole situation has been less than satisfactory as far as I am concerned. I think it is a bigger club, southern club, riding roughshod over a little club a little bit.
" To cancel the tribunal when they have known about it for three to four weeks for a very lame excuse, I just find it a little bit non-ethical if you like. I think that the etiquette involved is poor, but that is the way that they want to do their business. If that is the case then they go ahead and do it but it doesn't make our situation any easier. We are still hanging on wondering how much we are going to get for Danny (Graham) and what we are going to have available for strengthening the squad.
" I just think that the lack of communication, certainly from Watford's end has been very poor. They have got their way of doing business though and I don't really want to go to war with them. I just think that the etiquette of it all and the courtesy of it all smacks of a lack of respect. That is the way they want to do it though and maybe when they have the same situation against them, when maybe Arsenal or Tottenham take one of their players, then they will feel hard done to. They can't have any gripes about it though because they have done exactly the same to us. "
" It doesn't stop us looking for a replacement and we are constantly doing that and we will continue to do so. I think that what it does is it tells me that I have not got an exact figure with which I have got available to go and do my business. So in that respect it alters a little bit but it is the identifying which is the difficult situation at the moment, and the availability of the goalscorers out there at the moment.
" There are not many that people want to let go and for obvious reasons. There are always further developments but there is nothing imminent at the moment, we are continuing our search and we will continue to do so until we find the right player. The one that is available that we can manage to persuade to come in.
" I am extremely worried at the moment because we are miles ahead of where we should be in pre-season. Everybody that went to the game on Tuesday night would have seen us completely dominate a Premier League side. Their manager Phil Brown is an extremely good person, and his assistant Brian (Horton) who Dennis (Booth) knows very, very well. They just came in and said that we absolutely blew them away.
" I know that the result was a reversal but the actual overall performance was slightly worrying because we did many of the right things. We are ahead of where we should be at really, and that, you want us to be peaking at Brentford-time and then getting better from there. At the minute though, I suppose it is me being slightly sceptical of good performances, but we are ahead of where we should be really.
" As long as that continues right the way through the season then we will be OK with it. I don't want us to have a really good pre-season and then think that we have made it though and think we are better than we are and start off the season on a low. We need to keep improving and improving until that first game and get a good start under our belts. "
" Graham Kavanagh's is an old shoulder injury that he has had and he has been having a few problems with it. He has been to see a surgeon today and the surgeon has said that it is some of the scar tissue from the previous injury, which was a couple of years ago. It is resurfacing and he might have done it like maybe even something stupid like taking a throw-in, or throwing a ball or even playing golf, or even sleeping funny.
" So they can't pinpoint the reason but it is causing him some discomfort and I think, well I am pretty sure that Dolly (Neil Dalton) said that he was having a couple of injections today. So he is going to come in tomorrow morning and see how he feels.
" He (Danny Livesey) is itching at the minute, it is a matter of holding him back a little bit because he wants to be playing. I think he has seen Richard's performance as has rightly been mentioned beforehand, and he wants to make sure that he is right up there contesting his spot for selection as well. So he is trying to push himself maybe quicker than what the medical people are saying.
" That again though is a fantastic sign that everybody wants to be part of it and everybody wants to be fit. Kav wants to play tomorrow and he has had two injections today, that just shows that he is seeing other people coming in and doing good jobs as well in the middle of the pitch. It all bodes well for our season."
" We have had a really positive conversation with Cleve (Cleveland Taylor) after the Hull game. You look at that performance and you would think that on that there are not many better right-wingers in League One. Add to that the fact that he was voted our best player by a number of different parties last season, I would be daft if I readily wanted him to move on anywhere.
" I am trying to talk him round and convince him that this season he gives it his best shot and then we address the situation at the end when he will be out of contract anyway. I don't think that at the minute the signs are that he is going to sign a new deal but if we get 12 months out of him at absolutely top-whack like he performed on Tuesday then it will certainly benefit us as a football club.
" Josh (Gowling) made the decision to leave, not me, he set his agent about getting himself a move. He has made that decision and he has probably seen Danny Livesey and Richard Keogh playing very, very well and contesting for that place, and he might see himself as third choice. If he has done then he is probably right to go and seek his football, at the minute I couldn't guarantee him that because of the performances of those two. So he has to go and try to find his way and play his football, and I think that a month at the minute will tell him if it is the right thing or the wrong thing to do.
" It does seem odd that Middlesbrough find themselves in the Championship and they are certainly Premier League quality aren't they. They have retained most of their best players, their better players, and it is going to be a really tough afternoon again for us. We need to just not concern ourselves too much on them though, it is another benchmark in terms of how we perform on the day and find out where we are. Hopefully like Tuesday night there is a little bit more of that sort of quality of football. "