Vitor Pereira enjoyed his first taste of the FA Cup at Bristol City on Saturday, but admits his side must be more consistent for the full 90 minutes.
The Old Gold led by two goals in the opening 21 minutes, and had chances to add to that lead, but instead Scott Twine’s free-kick for the Robins ensured more of a battle ensued after the break, but the Old Gold found the answers.
Although he would have liked a third goal to end the tie as a contest, Pereira was generally pleased with what he saw from his players at Ashton Gate and knows it was important to bring positive energy back into the group.
On a pleasing performance
“Very good first half, in my opinion. The last five minutes of the first half we conceded some opportunities. We gave them confidence, from our throw in we lost one or two balls, and they scored at the end of the first half. In the first half, we had a chance to score more goals, and with 3-0 maybe we close the game, but for half-time they went with confidence, and we went with some doubts. To close this game we needed to score the third goal.
“Second half, we had two chance to score the third goal, but they have quality, and they started to believe, and we didn't have the quality, in my opinion, to keep the ball with us, and in the game of transition it’s difficult to control the game. In the moment that we should keep the ball, we lost the ball. They have a good team, and it’s the cup, it’s a fight. We work it, we fight it, we suffer together, defending together, compact, and this is football. It's not easy.”
On the wing-backs scoring
“Our wing backs, when we are attacking, they must be wingers. The wingers, when the cross come from one side, they must be in the box to score. The last run is the most important. If we play to get a chance to score, we need to do the last run, because the last run is the run that will allow us to score. It's not a surprise for me that they score goals.”
On showing resilience
“Generally, I'm happy, because the first half was, in my opinion, very good against a good team. The second half, this is the FA Cup. They felt that they could score the second goal, and we tried to keep the advantage for us to keep the result. In the end, we missed two chance to score, and maybe they missed one or two also. It's difficult, it’s not easy.
“We know that we can play at a better level for 90 minutes. It’s important to have some days to be more consistent in the game. If we play the second half like we played the first half, I’m very happy. I think we can increase our level.”
On Agbadou’s debut
“I think he was consistent. To play on the left side without left foot is not easy, but he can play on the left and he played well. I think he realised today that the game never stops here. Fast free kicks, fast throw ins, fast when the goalkeeper starts to play – the ball doesn't stop. It never, never stops. It means the players don't have the time to recover and to breathe a bit. That's what we feel when we are looking at the game.
“I think he realised today the speed of the game. The game is every time fast. We need a team to be more comfortable with the ball, so the pace is our pace, not the pace that the opponent team wants, because this is a game without control. In my opinion, that's what happened a bit in the second half.”
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On his first taste of the FA Cup
“It’s fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. It’s like we’re in the Premier League. The pace of the game is the same. It's a physical game, technical game, they have very good players. This is English football.”
