Gus Poyet left Crystal Palace feeling buoyed by Albion’s first-half performance and has encouraged his players to take advantage of the home game, following the Selhurst Park stalemate.
Dean Hammond had the best chance of the game as his header was brilliantly saved by Julian Speroni at point-blank range but Poyet remains satisfied with the result.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “I was delighted with the first half because that was what I wanted to see. We were the calmer of the two sides and we were in control. We had some very good technical actions, in particular on the left with Bridgey and Orlandi.
“We knew at half-time that Palace needed to change but we didn’t know what they would do. The second half became a bit more crazy and a bit more open, and there were moments when we were under pressure.
“I was expecting more of the game to be like the second half and that makes me a more happy person because it means we were very good in the first half.
“If you gave anyone the chance at any level to have the game come down to one game at home, you’ll take it. We have a great opportunity. It won’t be easy and of course we need to make home advantage count. We’ll see what happens on Monday.
“I’m sure that at home in front of our fans it will be a little bit easier for us to create something.
“We’ll go home, warm down tomorrow and prepare for Monday. We’ll see how the players react and we’ll see if there are any problems because we might have to freshen up the team. We’ll see what happens.”
Poyet said that he was proud of another solid defensive performance as Albion recorded their 18th clean sheet of the season, and has called for a similar platform at the Amex on Monday night.
“The defence is the key because we are a very difficult team to beat. When you are difficult to beat you know that you will have a chance and today it was Deano who had a header. The keeper did very well but on another day we would have won 1-0.
“We need to maintain that and make sure we create a little bit more and I'm sure that playing on our home pitch, in front of our fans, will help but it’s still going to be a very difficult game."
Meanwhile, Poyet confirmed that Andrea Orlandi was withdrawn through tiredness and wished Glenn Murray a speedy recovery after the former Albion striker was stretchered off with a knee injury.
“I’m desperate to see how Glenn is because everybody on the pitch seemed to know it was a bad injury. I hope it’s nothing serious and he is back fit again soon.
“I know what a nice boy he is and how disappointing it will be for him after signing a new contract.”
Original article
Dean Hammond had the best chance of the game as his header was brilliantly saved by Julian Speroni at point-blank range but Poyet remains satisfied with the result.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “I was delighted with the first half because that was what I wanted to see. We were the calmer of the two sides and we were in control. We had some very good technical actions, in particular on the left with Bridgey and Orlandi.
“We knew at half-time that Palace needed to change but we didn’t know what they would do. The second half became a bit more crazy and a bit more open, and there were moments when we were under pressure.
“I was expecting more of the game to be like the second half and that makes me a more happy person because it means we were very good in the first half.
“If you gave anyone the chance at any level to have the game come down to one game at home, you’ll take it. We have a great opportunity. It won’t be easy and of course we need to make home advantage count. We’ll see what happens on Monday.
“I’m sure that at home in front of our fans it will be a little bit easier for us to create something.
“We’ll go home, warm down tomorrow and prepare for Monday. We’ll see how the players react and we’ll see if there are any problems because we might have to freshen up the team. We’ll see what happens.”
Poyet said that he was proud of another solid defensive performance as Albion recorded their 18th clean sheet of the season, and has called for a similar platform at the Amex on Monday night.
“The defence is the key because we are a very difficult team to beat. When you are difficult to beat you know that you will have a chance and today it was Deano who had a header. The keeper did very well but on another day we would have won 1-0.
“We need to maintain that and make sure we create a little bit more and I'm sure that playing on our home pitch, in front of our fans, will help but it’s still going to be a very difficult game."
Meanwhile, Poyet confirmed that Andrea Orlandi was withdrawn through tiredness and wished Glenn Murray a speedy recovery after the former Albion striker was stretchered off with a knee injury.
“I’m desperate to see how Glenn is because everybody on the pitch seemed to know it was a bad injury. I hope it’s nothing serious and he is back fit again soon.
“I know what a nice boy he is and how disappointing it will be for him after signing a new contract.”
Original article