Ange on his substitutions making a difference...
“Good energy from the guys... I thought Lucas and Sonny made an instant impact as soon as they came on and just getting Micky (van de Ven) out there and seeing him drive with the ball gave everyone a lift. It was important. It was key today to get some minutes into some guys, Dom getting 90 plus, Romero and Micky getting game time. Lucas and Sonny have played a lot, so we could keep their minutes limited, so, from that perspective, an important day.”
Ange on Sonny not being happy with the point, despite the nature of our comeback...
“There have been times this year - I mean, just about every defeat we’ve had has been by a single goal - where games have petered out. At least today I thought the lads worked hard to get something out of the game. I think if we had done that in other games this year where we haven't been great and we could have got something out of the game, we’d be in a much better position. Sonny wants to win all the time, that’s his ambition, so I'm not surprised he's not happy with the point.”
Ange on playing out from the back...
“There's a message in there for us as a team that the boys persevered, they kept going. That's the way forward for us, you know, that's the solution, doing anything else other than that isn't going to isn't going to get us where we want to. Yes, it was a struggle at times today, and the boys had to be strong to keep trying to play out from the back whenever we could. Bournemouth are a good pressing team, so they ask you those questions, but you know, I was pleased that the boys persevered.”
Ange on what he’s looking for when games are co chaotic...
“You're hoping for some calmness in terms of individuals, through their actions, hopefully trying to slow down proceedings a little bit, but I think there was a nervousness in the whole stadium and that transferred to the players. Like I said, Cuti has hardly played all year, his first two passes he's given to the opposition, you almost understand that, but he grew into the game, and he got better as the game went on. Aside from that, there were still moments where I felt we were just in too much of a hurry, too anxious. It was disappointing on Thursday night (at AZ) and when that happens, you want to go out there and respond, but we just needed to slow things down a little bit. Obviously, I think Lucas coming on certainly helped that because he's definitely a technician, he protects the ball really well and it's kind of what we needed.”
Ange on taking a positive end to the game into Thursday night’s second leg against AZ...
“It's fair to say if we didn't show that sort of response at the end, there would have been a whole lot of noise around us again leading into Thursday. At least now that gives the lads a real narrow focus, irrespective, we know it's a big game on Thursday night, we know what we need to do to get through to the next round and irrespective of what the noise may be or may not be leading into it, we're going be ready for that. The players are desperate to do well, desperate to get through the next round and with a good atmosphere in here, I'm sure we can do it.”