EVERY word Cherries boss Andoni Iraola said in front of the cameras at his pre-match press conference, ahead of hosting Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday (2pm).
Q: You were planning to appeal Milos Kerkez’s red card at Wolves. What have you heard?
AI: They have answered straightaway. They didn’t overturn the decision. And he will have the three games normal suspension. And so I think he will be able only to play against Chelsea in the last game.
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Q: What are you feelings about that, having seen it again?
AI: I had my hopes after watching the replays, because I don’t feel it’s a red card. But normally to overturn a decision, at least from the experience I have in Spain, it has to be very, very super clear. And no, it hasn’t happened.
Q: How good of a place do you feel you’re in heading into this weekend, especially at home?
AI: We are in a good place, I think. But I also think the game against Brighton is very difficult. They play so well.
I think they have been working with the same style for a lot of time now. I think we played a good game against them when we played them and it wasn’t enough to beat them. So I think we have to play the same way or better and be better in the boxes.
Q: Brighton haven’t been in very good form in the last few games and had a tough game against Manchester City last night.
AI: Yes, but everyone has a tough game against Manchester City.
It is not expected that this can’t happen. I don’t think it’s a good reference for us. Probably we have to go further to find better references, because they are a team that spends a lot of time on the ball.
So you have to be ready to be without the ball a lot and to be not comfortable, but to be quite solid. And if we are at our level also, I think we will have our chances to damage them.
Q: How much do you admire what Roberto De Zerbi has brought to the Premier League?
AI: They they’ve seen the results. The players believe 100 per cent in what they are doing.
They’ve seen it in the past season or this season playing in Europe and it’s the way they do things. They do it very well. It’s true that it’s not always working, like everyone else, but for me, they play really well, yes.
Q: How much of an achievement would it be to finish about Brighton?
AI: It’s a little bit like the game we had against Wolves. We are kind of close in the standings.
Now every game, especially the ones you play against teams that are around you, it becomes even more important. It’s true that they still have one more game than us to play, but I think it’s a good challenge for us to try to beat them, try to fight for the position against them.
But we have to show it on Sunday. I think it’s going to be a demanding game.
I think they will also change some players because they had very good players yesterday on the bench, and probably they will change the team a little bit and we have to be ready for this.
Q: You have spoken a lot previously about aiming to break the club’s points record. Has that win against Wolves really brought that into focus now?
AI: Yes, it is the first chance we have now that we can beat it on Sunday. But we have to win for this.
It’s not going to be easy. We are one point to tie it, and we need two to go ahead. So we’ll try to do it on Sunday. Because we know that in the same way as Sunday, then we’ll have Arsenal away, difficult games we have. So we have to do it in one of the difficult ones.
Q: Physically, how difficult will it be for your players to go Wednesday and then Sunday?
AI: I hope we can recover well. At least we have one more day than we had against Wolves, and I think it makes a difference to have three days instead of two.
But we had one less against Wolves and we were better. We had even more time against Villa, they beat us. So at the end this is not really very meaningful. But I always prefer to have one more day and be more ready.
Q: Is there anybody who played against Wolves is not available? Any new problems?
AI: I don’t think so. A couple finished with some knocks, but it is not muscle injuries, so I suppose they will be able to recover. But we are dealing with a couple of players that finished with some knocks.
Q: What will be the decisive factor in picking your goalkeeper this weekend? Is Mark Travers hard to drop after the other night?
AI: I haven’t made the decision. I don’t know the starting XI.
I don’t know who will start and not. Normally, you and players think that the managers have very clear the next starting XI since we play the game and the next day you know the ones that are going to play.
In my case at least, sometimes I even decide the morning of the game, because I want to wait until I see them training and the last feelings I have.
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Was there anything in Neto’s performances recently that contributed to playing Mark Travers against Wolves?
No, zero I think Neto has been very good in the last games he has played.
I think United here, Villa, I think he was good. Luton, I don’t think he made the mistakes.
It was because I wanted to see Mark, because he’s pushing a lot in training. He is a very good keeper. That was the main decision.
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Q: Have you had to be patient with Alex Scott behind the scenes after his injuries and are you excited for next season with him?
AI: Yes, probably more than me, he has been sometimes patient, you know, because he is expensive to play, because I think players in the middle are playing really well. But he has helped us a lot, in what you have to remember is his first Premier League season.
He has made the difference in some games. He has had two quite important injuries and he has come back in the same way.
It’s true that the other day he played a very, very good game. But this is his level and this is what we have to demand from him, because I think he has the ability.
Q: You haven’t had many opportunities to see Enes Unal in his best position. How will you make the decision on signing him permanently?
AI: Our thinking is clear with Enes. We want to keep him for next season. I think we will keep him for next season, if everything goes normal.
I’m very happy with his attitude, how he has come back, how he helps the team, even playing 15 minutes like the other day with 10 men, he has to fight against everyone. He fights, he presses, he asks for fouls. He comes back to defend.
I think his attitude has been really good. For me, it is really difficult to play him, because I want Dom to be on the pitch and he’s performing really well. But it is very good for the team to have players like Enes.
They are pushing anyone and if everyone slips a little bit, I’m sure he will be ready to play more for sure.
